Redrafted, pole attachment legislation passes Assembly
Saturday, June 17, 2017
by: WECA Staff

Section: Legislative




Revised legislation creating a regulatory framework for wireless service providers to mount equipment on utility poles passed the state Assembly in June, preserving its chances of passage in both houses before an unusually slow-moving state budget bill crowds out all other business in the Capitol.

Whether Senate passage occurs promptly or is delayed until at least September remained uncertain as June drew near a close. Theoretically, bills can be scheduled for floor action through June 30 or until budget passage, whichever is later, but the pole-attachment bill had not been placed on the Senate calendar. Moreover, the budget bill stayed in a holding pattern as lawmakers grappled with education and transportation funding issues. Failure to pass a budget before the state fiscal year ends June 30 has few consequences compared with the same failure at the federal level: It simply means the state continues to operate under its current spending plan until a new one is enacted. 
 
Opposed in its original form by electric cooperatives—who were written out of a new draft early in June—the revised pole attachment proposal (Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 348) passed with co-op support.
 
A memo to all legislators from Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association Government Relations Director Beata Wierzba said conversations with the bill’s co-sponsors and other lawmakers led to “improved language that makes this proposal a better bill and addresses our unique circumstances.” The bill’s latest incarnation, Wierzba said, clarifies that access to public right-of-way and utility easements does not include private property easements negotiated between electric co-ops and their members, preserves a Federal Communications Commission exemption for cooperatives covering pole attachments and make-ready requirements, and specifies that existing co-op policies apply if a communication provider chooses to deploy wireless antennas in a co-op service area. 

Assembly passage was mainly uncontroversial. The substitute amendment was adopted on a voice vote and the amended bill was passed in similar fashion.
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