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House adopts changes to municipal broadband rules, requiring voter approval and feasibility steps
Summary
The House adopted a second substitute to SB 165 to add procedural guardrails for cities seeking to build municipal broadband, including public feasibility studies, hearings and voter approval for debt. Supporters said it increases transparency; opponents called it an intrusion on local control.
The House adopted a second substitute to SB 165 on municipal broadband projects, approving the change and moving the substituted bill forward for further consideration.
Representative Ryan D. Wilcox, the House sponsor, said the bill focuses on new municipal broadband projects and does not affect existing municipal fiber networks. He described the substitute as returning the bill to "how it was originally introduced" and said it removed a two-track approval system so that voter approval for municipal debt would be on a single, uniform basis.
The second substitute requires a preliminary public hearing, a publicly available feasibility study and subsequent public hearings before a city may seek voter approval to finance a municipal broadband project. The substitute also grandfathered existing municipal projects and, according to Wilcox, resulted from compromise work with the League of Cities and Towns and interested parties.
Debate split along local-control and fiscal lines. Representative Kotler opposed the measure as state overreach that "usurp[s] local control" and said locally elected city councils should remain accountable to residents. Representative Dominguez said the measure could limit cities’ ability to pursue affordability goals and reduce local flexibility to bond for broadband initiatives. Representative Thurston argued the bill provides needed safeguards, citing the iProvo experience where a municipal network incurred large debts and was later sold at minimal price.
Supporters said the bill increases transparency for taxpayers and requires steps to ensure informed public decisions. Representative Wilcox described the substitute as adding public hearings and feasibility studies and said the change had moved the League and other stakeholders to neutral positions.
The House adopted the second substitute and later recorded passage of the substituted bill on the Senate third reading calendar; the substitution passed and the bill advanced with recorded votes on the calendar. The substitute was adopted on the floor and the bill moved forward for further consideration.
