Two bills aim to expand public broadband in Washington, but there’s a hitch
‘It’s such drama, I’m telling you. I’ve never been in this situation before,’ one lawmaker says. By Melissa Santos, Crosscut
Share: Michael Moore, an information technology construction coordinator, is seen with an explanatory board about telecommunications services at a co-location data center inside Grays Harbor Pubic Utility District s headquarters in Aberdeen on March 4, 2021. Two bills approved by Washington s Legislature would let public utility districts offer broadband to retail customers. But there s some confusion about how the bills would interact. (Matt M. McKnight/Crosscut)
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May 21, 2021 6:16 AM Crosscut.
May 17, 2021
Washington state went all in on expanding public broadband this year. So much so, that the Legislature passed two different bills aimed at extending high-speed internet to people in rural areas.
It’s possible, however, that two bills aren’t better than one. And they may partly cancel each other out.
Now that Gov. Jay Inslee has signed both measures into law, confusion is mounting about whether the two laws can co-exist.
And that debate may end up in court.
Both House Bill 1336 and Senate Bill 5383 give public utility districts and ports new authority to offer broadband internet. The idea behind both bills is to have those public entities offer broadband in remote areas where private companies don’t operate because it’s not cost effective.
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Two bills aim to expand public broadband, but there s a hitch
Melissa Santos
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Washington state went all in on expanding public broadband this year. So much so, that the Legislature passed two different bills aimed at extending high-speed internet to people in rural areas.
It’s possible, however, that two bills aren’t better than one. And they may partly cancel each other out.
Now that Gov. Jay Inslee has signed both measures into law, confusion is mounting about whether the two laws can co-exist.
And that debate may end up in court.
Both House Bill 1336 and Senate Bill 5383 give public utility districts and ports new authority to offer broadband internet. The idea behind both bills is to have those public entities offer broadband in remote areas where private companies don’t operate because it’s not cost-effective.
Michael Goldberg May 17, 2021
The pushback from Republicans and some key Democrats was fierce after Governor Jay Inslee issued partial vetoes Monday to portions of climate legislation linked to the passage of a transportation package, undoing what some called the “Grand Bargain.”
The Governor issued partial vetoes to subsections of the cap-and-trade and low carbon fuel standard, two major climate bills passed by the Legislature during the 2021 session. Speaker Laurie Jinkins said the move was a clear instance of executive overreach.
Washington Courts have consistently held that as a co-equal branch of government, the legislature is responsible for drafting laws and the executive branch is responsible for implementing them. The Constitution provides the governor only limited powers to veto legislation. The governor’s partial veto today of E3SHB 1091, the clean fuel standard bill, reaches beyond his constitutional powers and we will ask t