Labor committee adopts amendment to broadband workforce bill, sends SF908 to Ag and Broadband

The Minnesota Senate Labor Committee on March 27 adopted an amendment to Senate File 908 that preserves a 40-hour training requirement for broadband and utility installers, delays the compliance deadline and allows previously completed, approved training to count toward the requirement.

Sen. Kupik, the bill author, offered the A4 amendment, which “changes the bill, puts it back to the 40 hours of training that we had put in the bill last year,” pushes back the date by which training must be completed, and “sets out some certification standards and says that if you have met those certification standards, you can put that towards the 40 hours,” he said. After a voice vote, the committee adopted the amendment and voted to recommend the amended bill and send it to the Committee on Agriculture, Broadband and Veterans.

Kevin Prentice, representing the Laborers'…