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Committee tables bill to add broadband, cable and telecom protections for mobile-home residents
Summary
The committee voted to table House Bill 2225, which would have prohibited mobile-home park landlords from restricting tenants’ choice of cable, broadband and telecommunications services. Members expressed concerns about property-rights implications and overlap with federal and public-utility rules.
The Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications voted to table House Bill 2225 after members raised concerns that the proposed changes would interfere with private property rights and may overlap with federal or public-utility regulations.
House Bill 2225 would have clarified that the Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act’s prohibition on landlords restricting tenants’ choice of sellers or services includes cable television, broadband, telecommunications and related services. Proponents said the change would protect tenants’ ability to choose their communications provider.
Representative Schreiber questioned whether the bill’s new definition of “services” was consistent with existing references to “public utility services,” asking whether telecommunications belong in the same category as electricity, gas and sewer. “Public utility services might be a little different… because they’ve got certified territory and there wouldn’t be a choice in that type of service necessarily,” he said, urging caution about expanding statutory definitions.
Representative Wilburn said he was “very uncomfortable with this bill” and voiced property-rights concerns. “We’re encroaching on property rights,” Wilburn said. Representative Hoheisel said he believed the bill warranted further study and moved a substitute motion to table the measure so staff and members could examine federal regulations and other implications; a ranking member seconded the motion.
The committee adopted the substitute motion to table by a simple majority; the motion was not debated under committee procedure and no date certain was set to bring the bill back. Committee staff noted the House Rules on procedural motions but said the committee could add a date certain if members requested it at a future time.
Why it matters: The bill would have limited mobile-home park landlords’ ability to restrict tenants’ choice of communications providers, potentially affecting broadband competition and consumer choice in mobile-home communities. Committee members, however, signaled concern about imposing statutory requirements on private property owners and about conflicts with existing public-utility frameworks.
The bill was tabled until further notice.
