D.C. Memo: Minnesota Madness? New Labor Law Could Halt BEAD Builds
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Labor: A Minnesota labor law passed last year runs the risk of bringing BEAD-funded projects to a “screeching halt” and deliver a serious blow to the effort to close the digital divide in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, according to Melissa Wolf, Executive Director of the Minnesota Cable Communications Association, and Brent Christensen, President & CEO of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance. The trade group execs slammed the law, signed by Gov. Tim Walz (D), for requiring broadband installers “to stop working unless they take an additional 40 hours of unnecessary training and pass a new state-mandated test — training that no other state requires and that does nothing to improve safety or efficiency.” In a March 9 letter posted to the Inforum website, Wolf and Christensen said a big problem was the law’s July 2025 deadline and that it had to change. “Without a reasonable legislative fix that includes pushing out the effective date, however, numerous broadband projects will grind to a stop, leaving hundreds of Minnesotans waiting even longer for reliable high-speed Internet,” they said. “Unless lawmakers act fast, a misguided and ill-conceived state law will bring new high-speed Internet projects to a screeching halt.” (Continued after paywall.)
