Wash. Lawmakers Debate How to Allow Muni Broadband
ISPs advised Washington state senators to stick with narrow municipal broadband legislation and oppose a House-passed bill to fully allow retail and wholesale broadband by local governments. At a livestreamed hearing Thursday, industry witnesses told the Senate Technology Committee to lift state restrictions only in totally unserved areas, like in a Senate-passed measure. Sponsors disagreed on that limit in interviews.
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The House and Senate passed bills allowing more muni broadband. HB-1336 by Rep. Drew Hansen (D) removes all restrictions; SB-5383 by Sen. Lisa Wellman (D) would limit muni projects to unserved areas and let ISPs object if they plan to provide at least 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. The House Community and Economic Development Committee plans to hear testimony March 17 at 8 a.m. PDT and vote March 19 at 10 a.m. on SB-5383. The Senate panel’s staff compared each chamber’s bill.
“Remove all state restrictions on public broadband,” no matter the location, Hansen told us. Wellman might support Hansen’s approach in five years, but today “there are kids in parking lots” because they lack broadband where they live, she told us.
Hansen opposes limiting muni broadband to unserved areas or giving ISPs power to veto muni networks. “If people in an area want their local government to provide broadband, that should be able to happen,” he said. “If people aren’t satisfied with the coverage they’re getting right now” and “think the local government can provide it cheaper and better, they should be able to have that.” It makes no sense that state law allows cities to provide broadband without restriction, but not ports, small towns, counties and public utility districts (PUDs), said Hansen. He noted Arkansas joined most other states when it removed such restrictions last month (see 2101280051).
Hansen thinks he can find consensus in the Senate, given bipartisan support for HB-1336 in the House. ISPs earlier were “interested in talking about the idea” but now oppose it, he said. Residents must be dissatisfied with broadband because more than 1,000 people signed into Thursday’s hearing in support of HB-1336, he said.
Wellman said she raised concerns with Hansen when he first proposed his measure. “I said, ‘Drew, the word unserved is not even in your damn bill.’” Wellman is talking with PUDs about revising her bill’s language on ISP challenges, she said. “I’m happy to adjust the bill, and I think there will be an amendment to it.” The senator wants to avoid inadvertently putting an ISP out of business; allowing challenges won’t delay deployment, she said.
Hansen refused to edit the bill to prioritize unserved in response to a question from Sen. Shelly Short (R) at the hearing. It’s fine to condition grants that way, but don’t restrict local authority, he said. Short asked if PUDs would have an unfair competitive advantage because they can use ratepayer money. Hansen said current law restricts that.
Local officials lined up to support HB-1336. It’s about "economic justice” and "equal access,” said Pierce County Council Chair Derek Young. It’s an “issue of equity and access for our students,” said Centralia School District Superintendent Lisa Grant.
The House bill would promote overbuilding where providers heavily invested, said industry witnesses. Limit muni broadband to areas with no broadband, urged TDS Telecom Manager-State Government Affairs Gail Long. SB-5383 would focus on unserved areas; HB-1336 would likely lead to cheaper, served areas getting priority, said NCTA Vice President-State Affairs Rick Cimerman: "Everyone should receive a first serving" before anyone gets seconds. HB-1336 is a “colossal waste of money” because it doesn’t target the unserved, said Association of Washington Business Government Affairs Director Mike Ennis, supporting SB-5383.
The Senate bill would be a “timid step forward” because it "prefers that Washington businesses and citizens pay more for slower service that would be available from a" PUD, emailed Christopher Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance director-community broadband networks. Because SB-5383 doesn’t mention cost, a private provider theoretically building a 100/20 Mbps for $150 monthly would stop a public utility district from selling cheaper gigabit fiber service, he said. “The House bill is a much more straightforward grant of authority to allow local folks to decide how to best expand infrastructure.”
An Idaho Senate committee will mull a pro-muni bill (SB-1149) introduced March 1. Connecticut legislators considered a broad broadband bill, including municipal rights, at a Tuesday hearing (see 2103090060). A Missouri Senate panel voted 10-0 last month for SB-108, allowing municipalities to join forces to deliver broadband with voter OK. A Montana muni bill died this month, while the Nebraska Legislature last month indefinitely postponed another. An Iowa subcommittee last month recommended scrapping a bill that local advocates opposed.