press releases
For Immediate Release: February 26, 2015
Contact: Robert J. Thormeyer, 202-898-9382, rthormeyer@naruc.org
WASHINGTON—The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners issued the following statement in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to preempt State laws on municipal broadband:
“Today’s decision by the Federal Communications Commission is contrary to 200-plus years of constitutional law. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners takes no position on the issue of whether States should preclude municipalities from entering the broadband marketplace. These decisions can only be made by the entities with the legal authority to do so—State legislatures or derived directly from State constitutions. By asserting jurisdiction where it clearly has none, the FCC is setting itself up for wasteful and unnecessary litigation. Instead of spurring municipal interest in broadband investment, this will instead have the opposite effect as today’s order will surely end up in court.”
-- NARUC Committee on Telecommunications Chair Chris Nelson of South Dakota
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NARUC is a non-profit organization founded in 1889 whose members include the governmental agencies that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. NARUC's member agencies regulate telecommunications, energy, and water utilities. NARUC represents the interests of State public utility commissions before the three branches of the Federal government.
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