State Net Neutrality Efforts Gather Steam in New England
Connecticut’s net neutrality bill returned from the grave and cleared what may be its toughest hurdle, as Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman (D) Friday supported the bill to break an 18-18 partisan stalemate with all Republicans opposed. The evenly divided Senate sent the bill to the House where Democrats have a 79-71 majority. Elsewhere in New England, a Rhode Island state senator said he conformed his net neutrality bill to match an April 24 executive order by Gov. Gina Raimondo (D).
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Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) will monitor the bill "over the final days of the legislative session," a spokesman said Monday. The session ends Wednesday. Malloy "has been a strong advocate for a free and open internet and believes the FCC’s net neutrality decision was a travesty," the spokesman said. "To keep pressure up on Washington to right this issue, it is important that Connecticut has a vibrant discussion."
The Connecticut net neutrality effort appeared dead in March after a Senate committee split 2-2, with Democrats for and Republicans against SB-2 (see 1803300031). Friday, senators replaced the text of a solar power bill (SB-336) with the net neutrality proposal and held a floor vote. This time, the lieutenant governor’s office ended the stalemate. The bill would require the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to make and enforce net neutrality rules like those the FCC 2015 rescinded in December. Wyman and PURA didn’t comment Monday.
The bill “has a good chance” of passing the House, with strong supporters in that chamber and Democrats in the majority, emailed Connecticut Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz. The bill is “a very positive development for Connecticut consumers,” she said.
Republicans opposing the bill on the Senate floor flashed a letter by Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen (D) -- one of 22 state AGs suing the FCC for rescinding the 2015 rules. “Because SB 2 would, on its face, require internet service providers operating in Connecticut to comply with state law requirements that are similar to the net neutrality principles the FCC has repealed and purported to preempt, SB 2 would be in direct conflict [with] the FCC's Order,” Jepsen wrote Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano. Stressing the AG’s use of the word “purported,” state Sen. Gary Winfield (D) countered that the issue is whether the FCC has authority from Congress to pre-empt. Senate Democratic leader Bob Duff said of a possible legal challenge, “It absolutely may end up in court, but lots of issues end up in court.”
The internet’s “biggest boom” occurred before the 2015 net neutrality rules, said Fasano, opposing the bill on the Connecticut Senate floor. Breaking up the Bell System led to the explosion, he said: “We got government out of our way.” Net neutrality is a federal issue, said Sen. Paul Formica (R). “The internet cannot be governed by states because … it knows no state boundary.”
In Rhode Island, a Senate committee last week amended a net neutrality bill (S-2008) to match Raimondo’s executive order restricting state contracts to ISPs that follow open-internet principles. The Senate Commerce Committee held the bill for further study, a common procedural step in Rhode Island that doesn’t imply the demise of legislation. Sponsor state Sen. Louis DiPalma (D) drafted the amendment with the governor’s office, and opponents will be “hard pressed to say this challenges federal law,” he said in a Monday interview. The amended bill wouldn’t cover local contracts, but state ISP contracts are worth “millions” and include devices, DiPalma said.
DiPalma hopes to pass the bill next month, before lawmakers are scheduled to depart June 30, and Raimondo indicated she will sign, DiPalma said. Democrats dominate both legislative chambers, and DiPalma said a few Republican members support the bill. A state law would be longer lasting than Raimondo’s executive order, since another governor could quickly reverse her order, DiPalma said. Raimondo is up for re-election this year and is in a tight race, says RealClearPolitics.
The Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee is considering SB-2336 and a report by the Special Committee on Net Neutrality and Consumer Protection (see 1803280042), said a spokeswoman for the net neutrality panel's chair, Cynthia Creem (D). Work on the state budget may affect the panel's timing, with the committee "very busy right now with the Senate budget, which is due out this week and will be debated in two weeks," she said.
Oregon and Washington state enacted net neutrality bills this year, while governors made executive orders in Montana, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Vermont and Rhode Island. A California bill supported by ex-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was scheduled for its third hearing Monday in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Industry challenges to state efforts are expected, with USTelecom threatening action for big wireline ISPs (see 1803260024).