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' International Union of North America (LiUNA) in Minnesota and North Dakota, told the committee the changes improve the bill’s feasibility without weakening safety standards. “This bill represents an improvement on last year’s bill in terms of feasibility,” Prentice said, and described three substantive edits: removing language that had been read as requiring unnecessary extra staff, clarifying who must be certified, and allowing previously completed classroom training from approved providers to count. He said the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) already had seven approved training programs and that some training was already underway.

Melissa Wolf, executive director of the Minnesota Cable Communications Association, said the amendment is the product of extensive stakeholder meetings and called it a compromise. “Safety is and will always remain paramount for cable providers, contractors, and our other industry partners,” Wolf said, and urged the committee to move the bill to the floor promptly to “avoid any unnecessary chaos and confusion.”

Sen. Dornick, who co-led stakeholder talks with Kupik, described the process as collaborative: “This is the way government is supposed to be. It’s to work together, to listen to both sides, and let them figure it out.” Dornick said the delayed deadline addresses concerns that contractors would be unprepared by the earlier date.

Committee members discussed enforcement concerns raised by cities and counties and the need to avoid disrupting broadband deployment. With the amendment adopted, the committee approved a motion to recommend passage of SF908 as amended and referred it to the Committee on Agriculture, Broadband and Veterans (agriculture/broadband jurisdiction noted during the hearing).

Votes at a glance

- Adoption of A4 amendment to SF908 — mover: Sen. Kupik; outcome: approved (voice vote; no roll-call tally recorded in the transcript). - Recommend passage of SF908 as amended and refer to Committee on Agriculture, Broadband and Veterans — mover: Sen. Kupik; outcome: approved (voice vote; no roll-call tally recorded in the transcript).

Background and next steps

The bill revises training and certification rules for broadband and related underground utility work established in legislation passed the previous year. Supporters said the amendment preserves safety standards while giving contractors and training providers more time to comply; opponents were not recorded in the transcript. The committee referral means the bill will be considered next by the Committee on Agriculture, Broadband and Veterans before any floor action.