Preemption at the state and federal level threatens local telecommunications authority, as we’ve seen in about 20 states. When state laws usurp local governments’ ability to decide how they improve poor connectivity, they disregard an understanding of local affairs that is unique to each community. Some states are threatening to take preemption another damaging step farther … Read More
Welcome to episode seventeen of the Building Local Power podcast. In this episode, Andrew Gillum, Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida and founder of the advocacy group, Campaign to Defend Local Solutions joins Christopher Mitchell, the director of ILSR’s Community Broadband Network’s initiative and Nick Stumo-Langer, ILSR’s Communications Manager for the latest episode of the Building Local Power podcast. The trio go … Read More
In October 2010, David Morris spoke to the Environmental Grantmakers Association at their annual conference in California about the dangers of preemption. The talk may be even more relevant today, a time when red states increasingly are pre-empting the authority of communities to develop solutions to pressing economic and social problems. Also offering comments on the issue … Read More
In this episode, John Farrell, the director of ILSR’s Energy Democracy initiative, interviews Christopher Mitchell (our usual podcast host) and Lisa Gonzalez of our Community Broadband Networks initiative. The three discuss the power of municipal broadband networks, how the power held in cities is integral to these projects, and the barriers put in place by cable monopolies to prevent these networks.… Read More
A selection of recent news stories with an ILSR insight into “The Public Good.” Stories in this Newsfeed: State Universities Chase Non-State Students | State Authority Trumps Local Democracy |Trophy Hunting: Unnatural and Unconscionable | Are School Closings Racist? | Why Have We Let the Most Wasteful and Corrupt Federal Agency Off the Hook? State Universities Chase Non-State Students For more than … Read More
After we heard that Lafayette’s LUS Fiber was considering expanding to some nearby communities, we knew we had to set up an interview with Terry Huval, Director of the Lafayette Utilities System in Louisiana. In our interview this week, Terry and I discuss Lafayette’s success, the legacy of the law creating special barriers that only apply … Read More
FCC Outlines Plan To Crush Awful State Protectionist Broadband Laws: from the it’s-about-time dept by Karl Bode, Tech Dirt While net neutrality rules are designed to protect consumers from a lack of last-mile competition, the agency’s moves on municipal broadband are intended to actually strike at the issue of limited competition at the root. As we’ve noted … Read More
The Missouri Senate Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government Committee voted to pass anti-local choice SB 266 on March 18th. This bill, sponsored by Senator Kurt Schaefer, will increase barriers for municipal networks and damage the possibility of highly-effective partnerships with the private sector. Call your Missouri State Senator and let them know you consider this … Read More
The Center for Public Integrity has followed the local choice debate closely. Their team has travelled to Tennessee and North Carolina to talk to lawmakers, visited communities seeking high-speed networks, and dug deep into the source of influential campaign funds. Allan Holmes and his team have assembled a collection of articles and audio that offers the … Read More
