04-09-2025 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Fischer and Members of City Council FROM: Laura Linehan, Acting City Administrator DATE: April 9, 2025 RE: Letter of Support supporting the Equal Access to Broadband Act ACTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED: Council Consideration for a letter of support (on city letterhead) for HF 974 / SF 2045 to support the Equal Access to Broadband Act. BACKGROUND: Michael Bradley, of Bradley Werner LLC, the legal firm that represents NineNorth, has requested a Letter of Support on city letterhead, supporting the Equal Access to Broadband Act. Councilmember Dave Miller has recently been appointed Chair of the NineNorth Cable Commission, an organization that would benefit from the support of this act. The Equal Access to Broadband Act The Equal Access to Broadband Act, is a reintroduced bill that would allow cities to franchise broadband to ensure equal access and equitable broadband deployment, while a funding bill provides a direct appropriation to help support local programming. Building on last session’s momentum to update Minnesota’s cable act, lawmakers have reintroduced the Equal Access to Broadband Act in both the House and Senate. HF 974, aims to modernize local franchising laws. The bills would allow local franchising authorities to franchise broadband, helping to ensure more equitable broadband deployment across the state. By granting cities broadband franchising authority, the legislation would: • Require broadband providers to meet buildout requirements in underserved areas. • Ensure cities receive reasonable compensation for the use of public rights-of-way. • Support community media efforts, similar to the authority cities already have under the Minnesota Cable Act. • Improve city control over public rights-of-way and help fund access television. Source: League of Minnesota Cities Legislative News Article DISCUSSION: At the March 26 City Council Workshop meeting, the Council discussed the letter of support and directed staff to move forward with bringing the Letter of Support to the April 9 City Council meeting, with a resolution to approve the Letter of Support.