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Committee considers extending telecom plan cycle and repeal of advisory board
Summary
Members discussed draft language to extend the telecom planning requirement from every three years to five (part of a 10-year telecom plan) and a repeal of the Telecommunications and Connectivity Advisory Board, which staff said has met only twice since 2021 and requested repeal. The committee agreed to solicit testimony from the Department of Public Service, the Land Use Review Board and the advisory board where appropriate.
Committee staff identified telecommunications-related provisions in the draft committee bill (request 26-O781), including a proposal to extend the date by which the Department of Public Service must adopt a new telecommunications plan. Maria Royal explained the draft would change the statutory cycle from adopting a new plan every three years to a five-year cycle for a 10-year plan, while preserving the Department's ability to revise the plan if circumstances warrant. "The proposal is to now extend that to 5 years," Maria said.
Members discussed whether to keep that language in the committee bill or rely on identical language included in the governor's FY27 recommended budget; some members favored keeping the language in the bill as a "belt and suspenders" backup if the budget version were to change during the process.
Separately, staff described section 4 as a repeal of the Telecommunications and Connectivity Advisory Board. Staff told the committee the advisory board "apparently has only met twice since 2021" and that the board has asked to be repealed. Committee members suggested inviting the advisory board to testify if the committee wants confirmation before taking action.
The committee did not take action Wednesday and asked staff to line up additional testimony from the Department of Public Service and affected stakeholders before moving forward.
