Consideration of Legislation Easing Tennessee's Muni Broadband Restrictions Delayed to 2016

The sponsors of HB-1303 and SB-1134 -- legislation in Tennessee that would partially ease the state’s restrictions on municipal broadband deployments -- confirmed Thursday that they're deferring further action on the bills until the Tennessee General Assembly’s 2016 legislative session. State Sen. Janice Bowling, a Republican, said support for the legislation had grown over the course of the 2015 legislative session but ultimately she and Assistant House Majority Leader Kevin Brooks decided there wasn’t enough support to move forward this year. Brooks previously had told us he believed the FCC’s Feb. 26 vote to pre-empt Tennessee’s municipal broadband law, along with North Carolina’s law, would improve the bill’s prospects (see 1502270048). The FCC’s pre-emption order now faces a legal challenge in the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals from Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery (see 1503240059).