MN House of Reps outlines the meeting held yesterday on HF47, which addresses safety standards for broadband installers. (I posted notes – and a video – on that meeting yesterday.)…

Depending on your perspective, a bill approved Thursday would either remove unnecessary roadblocks to expanding broadband across the state or water down standards that ensure people digging around gas lines know what they are doing.

On Thursday, the House Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee approved HF47 along party lines and sent it to the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee.

The bill would, in part, remove a requirement that at least two safety-qualified installers be present when infrastructure is being installed by directional drilling and it would reduce the length of training required to become certified as a safety-qualified underground telecommunications installer from 40 hours to 10 hours.

Rep. Isaac Schultz (R-Elmdale Township) said the training requirement is among several passed last year that potentially boxes the state into a corner as it deploys $652 million from the federal government for broadband infrastructure.

“Our state will simply not have the labor force to complete projects,” said Schultz, the bill sponsor.

His proposal would also push back a July 1, 2025, deadline for metro-area installers so it aligns with the rest of the state’s 2026 deadline.

Testifiers had very different views on the potential outcomes.