Victory for Municipal Broadband as Washington State Lawmakers End Restrictions
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:
Victory for municipal broadband as Wash. state lawmakers end restrictions:
The Washington state legislature has voted to end limits on municipal broadband, and the bill lifting those restrictions now awaits the signature of Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee. The state Senate passed the bill Sunday in a 27-22 vote, and the state House passed it on February 23 by a vote of 60-37.
"This bill reverses decades of bad policy-Washington was one of only 18 states with a STATE LAW prohibiting some local governments from offering broadband directly to the public," Democratic Rep. Drew Hansen, the bill's lead sponsor, wrote on Twitter. "Long overdue. Thanks to the BIPARTISAN group of Senators who stood up for public broadband today!!"
The Senate vote went mostly along party lines, but one Republican (Brad Hawkins) voted yea and three Democrats (Steve Hobbs, Mark Mullet, and Lisa Wellman) voted nay.
[...] A 21-year-old Washington state law (54.16.330) "authorizes some municipalities to provide communications services but prohibits public utility districts from providing communications services directly to customers," as noted in attorney Jim Baller's list of states that restrict municipal broadband or other public communications initiatives. (Baller runs a telecommunications law firm that represents local governments.)
The Hansen-sponsored bill now awaiting the governor's approval specifically authorizes public utility districts, port districts, counties, and towns to provide retail telecommunications service to end users. Additionally, the bill lets public utility districts and port districts offer service both inside and outside their district's geographic limits.
[...] Washington is one of 19 states on [Jim] Baller's list of states that restrict municipal networks. Arkansas is another of those 19 states, but its Republican-dominated legislature in February gave local governments new authority to provide broadband access.
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