A bill intended to give municipalities more negotiating clout with internet providers was killed in committee.
State Rep. Peter Leishman (D-Peterborough) was one of the sponsors of HB191, which would have amended a current law that prevents towns from bonding to pay for internet coverage in areas where a provider is already present.
“I think that the message really needs to get out there that there are areas in the state that have no or poor service,” said Leishman on Tuesday, after the House Science and Technology Committee voted 14-7 to render the bill inexpedient to legislate. “It’s really a work impediment.”
The votes fell mostly down partisan lines, said Leishman. Despite multiple Republican sponsors on the bill, the only votes to keep the bill alive fell on the Democrat side.
Variations of HB191 have been before the house before, said Leishman – he has sponsored them twice, but similar attempts have been made a total of at least seven times to change the law, and they’ve been struck down each time, though with varying degrees of success.
The bill was supported by several municipalities, including Peterborough, which sent representatives to testify in favor of the bill, but opposed by Internet Service Providers.
Leishman said the intent behind the bill is not for towns to be acting as competition against private industry, but to give them options to provide better service where providers are not interested due to low customer volume, or even to work with providers to extend their use.
“It’s disappointing, because to me, if the industry wanted to make things better, they would use the town’s ability to bond,” said Leishman. “But the industry is looking at this bill as not an opportunity, but a threat.”
Leishman was joined in his sponsorship of the bill by fellow Monadnock region reps Frank Sterling (R-Jaffrey) and Marjorie Porter (D-Hillsborough) as well as three other Republican reps.
The committee will also be voting on a bill that examines the issue of broadband in the state, which will serve three particular functions: Determine process for implementing the final report of the New Hampshire broadband mapping and planning program, explore opportunities for public/private partnerships to facilitate broadband availability in underserved areas and facilitate the adoption of wireless technologies to expand the reach of broadband access into rural areas. State Rep. Carol Roberts (D-Wilton) is one of the sponsors of that bill.