At a cost of up to $5,000 to lay a mile of fiber-optic line, extending broadband access to rural Iowa is a pricey deal.

Last year, enough House Republicans balked at having taxpayers pick up any of the expense tied to providing high-speed Internet access that what many believed to be a breakthrough piece of legislation died in the chamber.

Expect that bill to be back this session. It is among Gov. Terry Branstad’s priorities. Leaders of the Republican-controlled Iowa House and Democrat-controlled Senate say they want to come up with a way to pass broadband legislation.

“A lot of people want to work on it,” said Sen. Majority Leader Mike Gronstal.

Wanting a bill is one thing, but getting legislation to the governor is another matter.

Branstad is eager for the legislation, saying it is crucial to economic development, especially in rural areas. His initiative is called Connect Every Acre.

It appeared last year that lawmakers had come up with legislation that could at least serve as a working document, House Speaker Kraig Paulsen said.

The bill included property tax incentives for companies that extend the cables and wires and other infrastructure for broadband access. In addition, the bill called for an accelerated process in approving cell towers in rural areas.

Some House Republicans objected to the tax incentives, and Democrats believed the cell tower siting requirements would be a burden for staff-strapped small towns.

As a result, the bill was defeated in the House.

Paulsen said Rep. Peter Cownie, a West Des Moines Republican and chair of the House Commerce Committee, is trying to find a solution, but the path to a bill is not clear at this point.

“When you figure out what it takes to get that bill done and into code, then tell me and I’ll know,” Paulsen said during an interview with the Business Record.

Branstad’s proposal has these elements:
? Sets aside $5 million in fiscal 2015 for the Iowa Farms, Schools and Communities Broadband Grant Program, which would provide grants to communication service providers to invest in broadband access to farms, schools and communities.
? Provides a 100 percent property tax exemption for broadband infrastructure in place on or after July 1, 2014.
? Streamlines the permitting process by requiring that permits related to wired broadband to be  issued within 60 business days.

“The property tax exemption on new broadband deployments gets right to the heart of how the state can lower the cost of deployment. Other states have utilized grant programs, which is also a great tool to subsidize high-cost deployments, if it is administered in a way that is fair to all providers,” said Michael Sadler, assistant vice president of public policy and government affairs for CenturyLink Inc.

Sadler said the need for high-speed Internet is not limited to rural Iowa.

“It is also important to note that metropolitan areas also have a steady need for increases in speed,” he said. “I suggest that the Iowa Legislature continue to seek input from Iowa’s private broadband providers and develop as bold of a plan as possible.”

The idea of extending access to broadband finds few detractors. Democrats likes the idea, so do Republicans.

So what are odds of a bill passing this session. For now, no one is placing a bet.

Issue Summary

History: 
Last year, Gov. Branstad called his broadband inititive Connect Every Iowan. Its legislative equivalent, House File 2472, led to some high drama on the floor of the Iowa House, where a watered-down version of the initiative was defeated 51-44, with enough Republicans defecting from party ranks to join Democrats in defeating the bill. It is rare for legislative leaders to bring a bill for a floor vote without knowing they have enough support to prevail. There was plenty of partisan bickering after the vote, but the long and short of it was that the handful of Repbulicans who opposed the bill felt it did not provide enough accountability for the tax credits it offered, and Democrats argued that the legislation would not provide high-speed Internet access to enough users. The bill would have accelerated the siting of cell towers, provided a 10-year property tax abatment for installation of broadband infrastructure and two tiers of tax credits for providers who increased connections to their services. 

Who’s in favor? 
The real question here is who opposes extending broadband service. Farm groups favor it, economic development organizations favor it, providers favor it. We all want faster Internet speeds.

Odds:
No predictions here. House Speaker Paulsen thought his party had come up with a good working bill in HF 2472. But he was wrong. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal likens the effort to the battle to electrify rural Iowa. There’s a lot of work to be done by “well-intnetioned” people, he said. Paulsen agrees.

Democratic position: Support

Republican position: Support

Governor’s position: Support