Committee advances bill to modify underground telecommunications certification amid broadband rollout concerns

The Workforce, Labor, Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee on Tuesday voted 7–6 to advance House File 47 to the Agriculture Committee, sending the proposal to amend Minnesota's underground telecommunications installer certification program to further review.

House File 47, introduced by Representative Pete Schultz, seeks to modify portions of a 2024 law that requires installers to complete a 40‑hour training curriculum and pass an exam before performing certain underground telecommunications work. Supporters told the committee the law, as written, risks delaying broadband projects tied to $652,000,000 in BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) federal funding and could sideline thousands of experienced workers ahead of the July 1, 2025 effective date.

"Minnesota is incredibly well positioned when it comes to broadband," Representative Schultz said in opening remarks, and the state stands to use federal BEAD funding to extend high‑speed service. Melissa Wolf, executive director of the Minnesota Cable Communications Association, told the panel, "This law will disqualify thousands of experienced broadband installers ... until they take…