Wash. House Panel Greenlights Digital Equity Bill
A Washington state digital equity bill cleared the House Community and Economic Development Committee with an amendment, at a virtual hearing Tuesday. The panel voted 8-5 for HB-1723, which would set up state programs to provide reduced voice and broadband…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
rates for low-income people and to give discounts on telecom service rates and infrastructure costs for anchor institutions. It would establish a grant program for digital equity planning by local governments, higher education and workforce development councils. The committee agreed to an amendment removing a proposed requirement that the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission determine the reduced broadband rates, while modifying some definitions and making other technical tweaks. Ranking member Matt Boehnke was the only Republican voting yes. He said other committee Republicans wanted to narrow the bill and had funding questions. Earlier at the hearing, the committee heard testimony on HB-1729 to establish a blockchain work group including industry and regulators. It would help grow the state’s blockchain sector, said Molly Jones, Washington Technology Industry Association vice president-public policy. Mayor Lynne Robinson of Bellevue, Washington, also backed the bill. Lt. Gov. Denny Heck (D) supports the concept, but his office has too few staff to set up the working group, said David Bremer, a director in Heck’s office. Chair Cindy Ryu (D) promised to work with him.