Senate committee hears House Bill 689 to tighten state broadband enforcement and change procurement rules

Representative Desotel, presenting House Bill 689 to the Senate Commerce Committee, told members the measure is a narrowly focused rewrite of an earlier proposal and was developed with industry input. "This is gonna be a really fast bill, because it's a really, really simple bill," she said, summarizing the intent to strengthen the Louisiana State Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity’s ability to oversee federally funded broadband projects.

The bill would let the state office set customized milestone thresholds for disbursements, raise an administrative fee (the proposal discussed would permit the office to collect up to 2.5 percent), and authorize an additional 2.5 percent to hire third-party contractors for technical and auditing work rather than expanding staff payroll. Desotel said the changes are intended to ensure the state-funded broadband network is "deployed effectively, efficiently and equitably" and to provide tools to address inadequate speeds, pricing violations and…