Toughest Lobbyist To Go Against | Arizona Capitol Times azcapitoltimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from azcapitoltimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
How Can a State Lawmaker Take On Big Tech?
You have to have a âgood champion.â
Arizona Republican Rep. Regina Cobb during a committee hearing in Phoenix, May 2019
For elected officials who want to propose Big Tech reform, Arizona state Rep. Regina Cobb (R) has a warning: They have to prepare for the lobbying and intimidation that comes with it.
âIâm trying to be as honest and frank as I possibly can to make it known that these are the pressures that are going to come on your legislators,â Cobb said in an interview with the
Prospect. âYou gotta have a good champion; someone thatâs gonna go the distance with them and I hope they do have that.â
In Arizona, Democrats Are Backing Big Tech
A bill that would eliminate Apple and Googleâs hefty fees on app developers has drawn unusual coalitions on both sides.
Jaap Arriens/Sipa USA via AP Images
The app stores currently apply a 15 or 30 percent commission fee on apps that cost money or have in-app purchases or subscriptions.
Members of Arizonaâs state House of Representatives questioned whether or not Apple was a monopoly last week, ahead of a critical floor vote. Others compared the Apple and Google smartphone app stores to a flea market. And one member applauded Appleâs initiative to control the content on its operating system. This was all in the debate over HB 2005, a bill that passed mostly along partisan lines that will, if made law, eliminate app store commission fees for developers on both the Google and Apple app stores.