The next battles between cities and states

Legal battles between cities and states are expected to intensify in the coming months with dust-ups over municipal broadband networks and other issues. After some high-profile disputes with governors over pandemic-related restrictions, some mayors are emboldened in pushing back on state laws prohibiting city-level policies that, they say, will be important to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 states have legal barriers or bans on municipal-owned broadband networks. This impacts millions of schoolchildren who may still be grappling with remote learning in the fall and at-home workers who are more reliant on an internet connection. More than 500 communities have some sort of publicly owned broadband networks, per the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Some states— like Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina — have eased restrictions on phone and electric cooperatives to facilitate broadband in rural areas where private providers are unlikely to invest.