Local/Municipal

The House of Representatives recently approved H.R. 5419, a bill introduced by Rep Tom Kean (R-NJ). Titled the Enhancing Administrative Reviews of Broadband Deployment Act, the bill would attempt to improve the process of getting permits for broadband on federal land. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Specifically, the bill would direct the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to conduct a comprehensive review of administrative barriers involved in reviewing applications to use federal rights-of-way.

More than 700 communities across the U.S. are served by some type of municipal broadband network that provides its residents with internet services. In simple terms, a municipal broadband network is an internet service provider that is owned and operated by the local city or county government or a municipal utility rather than a private company like Comcast or AT&T.

Across the country developers are seeking new areas to build AI data centers. The scale is unprecedented, with the Top Four AI companies — Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta — and other developers pouring billions into facilities with footprints as large as 70 football fields. As these projects proliferate, so does public pushback. Communities nationwide are organizing to resist data centers out of fear that their harms will eclipse any benefits.

For decades, administering small towns and communities in the US largely centered on zoning amendments, fixing roads and ensuring that trash was collected.

Sara Nichols is a longtime rural advocate who has helped Western North Carolinians access broadband for most of the past decade. In 2023, she testified before the House Subcommittee on Communication and Technology on the future of rural broadband funding. In 2025, she was named the Tech Difference Maker of the Year by the NC Tech Association and also served as a 2025 Rural Summit broadband funding panelist.

Previous emergency planning, in coordination with other impacted agencies, informed Washington (DC) Office of the Chief Technology Officer officials as to which systems, processes, and teams are essential, said CTO Stephen Miller. “We identified very early what our critical systems are,” Miller said. During the January ice storm, emergency communications networks and 911 systems stayed online, and the call center remained fully staffed. OCTO technicians supported District of Columbia Public Schools’ technology infrastructure and the district’s Emergency Command Center.

A Midwest tech hub that’s also one of America’s bluest cities is moving to rein in the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure boom, underscoring a growing divide over how fast the U.S. should build out data centers. City council members in Madison (WI) home to the state’s capitol and nearly 300,000 people, voted unanimously to temporarily ban new construction of large data centers for one year.

The United States Conference of Mayors published the new Mayors Artificial Intelligence (AI) Playbook in partnership with Google. The playbook provides a blueprint for implementing AI strategies at the local level. It provides practical guidance on AI and data governance, secure technology and strategies, and actionable best practices. The playbook is split into two chapters:

A recent report, From Gig City to Quantum City: The Value of Fiber Optic Infrastructure in Hamilton County, TN 2011-2035, quantifies the benefit of the citywide municipal fiber network to the City of Chattanooga (TN). The fiber network is operated by EPB, the electric and fiber utility owned by the City of Chattanooga.

The City of Chicago released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the new Small Business Technology Enhancement Program, an initiative aligned with the Chicago Digital Equity Plan and Cut the Tape for Small Business. Through this RFP, Chicago will award