The Association of Minnesota Counties recently unveiled their 2011-2012 Policy Positions.

Here are their positions on broadband:

Vital Communities

AMC supports state assistance to communities in reaching their workforce and economic development potential in order to enhance the quality of life for all Minnesotans.

Broadband Development

• AMC supports identifying and implementing actions to achieve by 2015 the goal of state wide deployment of advanced broadband networks and symmetrical high-speed capacity.
• AMC supports initiatives to make it easier for cities, municipal utilities, schools, libraries, and other public sector entities to collaborate and deploy broadband infrastructure and services at the local and regional level.
• AMC supports public/private collaboration to achieve state broadband goals, including partnerships and cooperation in providing last-mile connections.
• AMC supports removing barriers to the exercise of local authority to provide such services, including repeal of Minn. Stat. § 237.19, that requires a supermajority voter approval for the provision of local phone service by a local unit of government.
• AMC supports offering incentives to private sector service providers to respond to local or regional needs and to collaborate with cities and other public entities to deploy broadband infrastructure capable of delivering sufficient bandwidth and capacity to meet immediate and future local needs.
• AMC supports completely and continuously updating comprehensive statewide maps of broadband services to identify underserved areas and connectivity issues.

You can see a push towards public-private partnerships. You can also see the push to get rid of the super majority requirement for municipalities looking to provide telecommunications services.