Municipal wireless bill and studies
Yesterday, a House committee sent h 1252, which concerns whether or not cities can get into the broadband internet business off to the Rules Committee, where it will be folded into the annual study bill.
The study bill typically directs legislators and staff to look at dozens of topics between the time the legislature adjourns – maybe in August – and the time it returns in May. Topics included in the study are considered eligible for consideration in the short session that begins in 2010.
Click here for yesterday's story.
That action pretty much ended debate on the House side for the session. Once a measure is shuffled off to be included in a study, members are done fooling with something until after adjournment.
”But wait!” say the folks over at StopTheCap.com. S 1004 was on the Senate Commerce Committee calendar this morning. It is the Senate companion to H 1252 and had the same language that would have prevented local governments from getting into the broadband business.
Don't get too riled.
The Commerce Committee also turned it into a study. It's not exactly the same bill. The House created a Legislative Research Commission study while the Senate bill would just send it to the Revenue Laws Study Committee. They’re two different critters that both serve the same purpose.
Either way, both chambers are saying the topic needs to be looked at - "chewed on" to use Rep. Faison's phrase from yesterday - before they go tinkering with the law.
You can expect to see 1004 on the Senate floor and sent over to the House soon, said Sen. David Hoyle, its sponsor. Hoyle says he doesn’t much care how it gets studied, as long as it gets there.
"It's an issue that needs to be looked at," Hoyle said. "All the parties need to get in the same room and defend their position."
Opponents of the original bill say that local governments should be able to get into the broadband business, particularly where a private company isn't providing service or service at the level that residents want.
Supporters of limits - Hoyle is among those - say local governments shouldn't be able to compete with private enterprise.
The result for the time being is that there is unlikely to be any more action on this front this year. Look for the issue to return either in May or in the next General Assembly.
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