Senate committee advances bill letting Yuma-area counties form broadband authority for agricultural towers

The Senate Committee on Government on Feb. 18 voted to give Senate Bill 16‑61 a do‑pass recommendation as amended, a measure that would let qualifying counties form a public broadband service district authority to oversee construction, deployment and maintenance of broadband infrastructure intended in the sponsor’s presentation to serve agricultural needs.

Sponsor Senator Tim Dunn, legislative District 25, said the measure is intended to create an entity “similar to a port authority or an airport authority” that can take on management of existing government‑built fiber and contract with private technology providers to operate wireless towers for precision agriculture. "We're gonna take things from the government," Dunn said, describing an existing mid‑mile fiber backbone in Yuma and planned towers to serve large agricultural operations.

The bill’s floor amendment, described in committee as a three‑page Hoffman amendment, sets out procedures for creating a broadband authority district by petition (the amendment specifies a petition threshold of 10,000 persons), declares the district to be a public, political and municipal corporation, and outlines governance and transparency requirements. Among the provisions explained in committee: a district board may have 5 to 7 members representing stakeholders inside the district; the board must adopt bylaws and prepare an annual report describing financial activity and project progress; and the authority may enter contracts, acquire and dispose of property, and represent itself in legal matters. Committee staff also said the bill prohibits the authority from imposing or collecting any tax.

Mark Smith, president of Smith Farms Company of Yuma and president of the Yuma Irrigation District, testified for the measure and described local progress. He told the committee the Yuma Board of Supervisors identified broadband as a top priority in April 2020 and that “Phase 1 of that project is complete. Phase 2 is about a hundred and 20 days from completing” and will provide a mid‑mile backbone; Phase 3, he said, is the wireless towers for agriculture. Smith described the proposed authority as a management entity that would