Staff Analysis of the Legislation
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The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Jay Powell, combined most of the House and Senate rural broadband initiatives into SB 402, making it the omnibus rural broadband bill of the 2018 legislative session. Among its many components, the bill authorizes the DOT to use or lease their right of way (ROW) for broadband deployment, establishes a voluntary “broadband ready community” program for local governments that have streamlined their ROW permitting process, and creates a statewide broadband deployment plan. For a thorough summary of SB 402, please click here. |