WHAT HAPPENED: A light week, in a sense. Gov. Roy Cooper and legislative leaders appeared no closer to a state budget agreement. The House put off another scheduled vote to override the governor's earlier budget veto. A number of legislators were out-of-state for a conference. The governor signed a few bills into law.
WHAT IT MEANS: There isn't much new to say, here.
News reports indicate the House is still working on a budget-veto override; the governor continues issuing
press releases counting the days without a budget agreement.
ON TAP: The National League of Cities has just opened applications for leadership spots on its board of directors, committees, councils and constituency groups. This bulletin contains specifics for anyone interested.
THE SKINNY: You can always find the latest on specific bills we're following with
our online tracker. But we're in production of our usual End-of-Session Bulletin that will round up and explain everything that happened during the 2019 session of interest to cities and towns. Stay tuned.
The Raleigh News & Observer this past weekend shined light on the inadequacies of federal broadband data as a challenge in efforts to expand adequate internet service to underserved or unserved areas. "As North Carolina attempts to expand broadband internet to large swaths of the state that are unable to access it, the state government faces one big obstacle: knowing exactly who doesn't have access to high-speed internet," the article begins. "In part, that's because of the way the Federal Communications Commission collects data on the matter, which overstates how many households and businesses can access fast, affordable and reliable internet connections across the country." The article cites an FCC figure that 94 percent of North Carolina households have broadband access, which North Carolina officials know is inaccurate and can impact access to federal money meant to close the broadband gap. The full article dissects the issue and examines policy efforts in North Carolina. (An episode of the League's podcast, Municipal Equation, also recently explored the issue and ramifications.) This month, HB 431 FIBER NC Act, legislation addressing a major League policy goal of improving broadband access through public-private partnerships, won a committee approval after supporters argued that rural communities are falling behind economically and educationally without adequate broadband connections.
