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Missouri HB 2078 Fails: Post Mortem Play-By-Play
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Since we alerted our audience to the shenanigans surrounding Missouri’s HB 2078, a couple of other news medias have picked up the story and reported on the dramatic end of session climax. As we rest in the glow of the denouement, we want to provide a follow up for those who may have missed the final outcome and offer some words from Jim Baller, who was deep in the trenches.
Here's What Happened...
If you have not yet heard, the language from HB 2078 was ultimately not adopted by the Missouri State Legislature. Whew. Readers probably recall that, when HB 2078 stalled on its own, the author of HB 2078, Rep. Lyndall Fraker slipped some of the more damaging language into SB 765, a traffic ticket bill that had nothing to do with municipal networks.
Fortunately, advocates of municipal networks had been able to educate Members who were part of the appropriate conference committee. Those elected officials decided to remove the language from SB 765 before final passage. Anti-muni Members also attempted to amend the language into a third bill, HB 1912, which concerned county buildings. The sponsor of the amendment then turned around and chose to strip out the language that began in HB 2078 from his amendment, once he learned that its inclusion would have sparked a filibuster and killed the entire amendment.
A Tough Fight That Isn't Over
Jim Baller, the nation’s leading telecommunications attorney who was directly involved with defeating the bill told Communications Daily:
“This was one of the toughest state battles that we’ve fought in years. It took months of constant vigilance, quick and effective reactions to ever-changing language, and hard daily work with key members of the legislature. The most important part was getting across the message that this is not a matter of the public sector competing with the private sector, but of communities retaining the ability to work with willing incumbents, create public-private partnerships, develop their own networks, or do whatever else they believe necessary to acquire affordable access to the advanced broadband networks on which their futures will depend.”
Jim went on to tell us that a number of people dedicated their time and energy to stopping the harmful language of HB 2078.
“Many Missouri communities and national organizations contributed to this victory, but special kudos go to Ewell Lawson, the Manager of Government Relations of the Municipal Public Utility Alliance, and Richard Brownlee, Google’s legislative representative for Missouri.”
The battle this year in Missouri was yet another chapter in what is becoming an annual occurrence. This year's events underscore how changes to bill language and procedural process can change the course of legislation up until the gavel comes down sine die. Along with Jim, Ewell, Richard, the MPUA, and the other folks who believe that local communities in Missouri should make their own decisions, we will continue to watch the state legislature and keep you in the loop.
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