House passes stopgap broadband funding bill, 68-1

After suspending its rules to take the bill up immediately, the House has voted 68-1 in favor of HB 168, the stopgap funding bill for high school broadband service to replace the defunct Idaho Education Network. Rep. Luke Malek R-Coeur d’Alene, told the House, “As you are probably aware, there’s been a pall cast over the … broadband services to Idaho’s schools.” That’s because a court has declared the state’s contract with the IEN vendors, Education Networks of America and Qwest Communications, now Century Link, void, saying it was issued illegally.

“So moving forward, we had to come up with a new way to get those services,” Malek told the House. He explained the fix that the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee crafted in HB 168, which appropriates $3.6 million, one-time, to the state Superintendent of Schools to reimburse and make advance payments to school districts to contract for their own broadband service for the rest of the current school year. Plus, the bill takes back $5 million from the state Department of Administration in unspent IEN funding.

Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, cast the lone dissenting vote, which he said was a “protest vote.” “This is a way forward and it probably is something we have to do. But I will cast a protest vote. Because at the same time that we are moving forward, we should learn from this experience and we should learn very, very quickly. We need better procurement laws, and we definitely need better oversight and supervision of all of these contracts. I would hope that this will spur us forward into making progress on this very, very important issue. Because we have not been successful in a number of lawsuits, and a number of disputes over contracts over the past couple of years.”

House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said, “It’s really with disappointment and sadness that we come to this point. I was one of the original sponsors of the enabling legislation for the educational network, and I do believe that a managed network to help draw commercial development of broadband services into the rural areas of Idaho is a wonderful idea. It is a great disappointment to me and I’m sure to all of you that the good idea has gone awry in such a stupendous manner. That said, this is a way out of the morass, and I support it with a heavy heart.”

Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, said, “I think this is an excellent idea. … I’m very grateful for this idea and this bill.”