Holcomb Vetoes Bill, Saying Broadband Work at Risk
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Governor Eric Holcomb has vetoed a bill aiming to limit the ability of state agencies to adopt new regulations, saying that it included provisions that threatened about $150 million in broadband internet projects planned around the state.
The broadband projects were included in regional development grant requests that are receiving $500 million in state funding awarded in December.
Holcomb said in a veto letter released Wednesday that provisions in the bill requiring all state-financed broadband projects to meet requirements of a separate state broadband fund would jeopardize the work planed in at least 28 counties.
“Most regions have prioritized these broadband projects and did so under a very different expectation about how this money could be used,” Holcomb said in the letter.
The Republican governor criticized the provision for being added to the bill during the legislative session’s final day last week without any previous committee review.
Holcomb said he supported the concept in other parts of the Republican-backed bill adding limits on state agency regulations but worried how the bill’s language would impact needed emergency regulations.