Des Moines Register
West Des Moines broadband plan shows how Iowa is demonstrating innovation again
Iowans are used to forging their own path when it comes to broadband. The state is already home to more municipal broadband networks than nearly any other state, and four more are under construction. When the private sector has failed to provide high-quality Internet service at an affordable price, time and again, Iowa’s local cities have stepped up to build their own networks.
FCC moves threaten Iocal news in Iowa and across the nation
[Commentary] Right now, there is a merger waiting for approval in Washington that hits Iowa hard. Sinclair Broadcasting and Tribune Media are seeking approval to combine their television stations. If allowed, this combination would create a national broadcasting behemoth that would change the local character of broadcasting. It would mean a single company could reach 72 percent of the nation’s households by owning an unprecedented 230 television stations.
Broadband Internet bill fails in dramatic Iowa House vote
The Iowa House rejected Gov Terry Branstad’s broadband Internet expansion package in dramatic fashion, with a floor vote in which Democrats and Republicans joined together to deny the bill a majority.
The failure of a bill in a vote on the floor is extremely rare, as the majority party generally does not bring up bills for which leaders aren’t certain they have the votes to pass. In this case, the House’s Republican leaders clearly were counting on votes from the Democratic minority that didn’t materialize. When the voting board was closed, 42 Republicans and two Democrats -- a total of 44 out of the chamber’s 100 members -- voted yes, while 42 Democrats and nine Republicans formed a 51-vote majority to kill the measure. Immediately afterward, House Speaker Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha), cast blame on the Democrats.
“I have absolutely no idea why the House Democrats would be opposed to expanding broadband access in the state of Iowa,” he said. “I think that’s a shame.”
Those arguments overlook the fact, however, that nine Republicans also voted against the bill, and if seven had voted yes the bill would’ve passed. Minority parties in legislative bodies frequently cast votes en masse against bills sponsored and pursued by the majority, and majorities rarely depend on votes from the other side to pass legislation.
Democratic leader Mark Smith (D-Marshalltown) said his members voted against the bill because they felt it didn’t go far enough in incentivizing and stimulating the expansion of high-speed Internet service.
Feds attempt to keep Iowa records secret would violate constitutional rights, county attorney argues
Iowans' First Amendment rights will be violated if federal officials successfully prohibit Story County from releasing public records, a county attorney argued before a federal judge.
The argument comes as part of Story County’s efforts to release e-mails sent by Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, who has alleged that a $7 billion federal emergency communications effort has had procurement, conflict of interest and open meeting rules or guideline improprieties.
Federal officials have staged a legal battle to keep messages sent from Fitzgerald’s county email account secret from groups that include the Des Moines Register, saying Fitzgerald’s role as a board member on the First Responder Network Authority was in a federal capacity.
Because the information deals with security issues, the information is exempt from public disclosure laws, federal officials have said. With some exceptions, most emails sent on government accounts are by Iowa law considered open to the public, which Story County officials say they must follow.
[March 10]