Ohio senators should focus on budget, stop meddling with broadband systems like Fairlawn's

Editorial | Akron Beacon Journal

Broadband internet service is hardly a luxury in today's world. It's as essential as water, electricity and other utilities for any person or business needing to connect with the world.

That's why cities such as Fairlawn and Hudson are proud of their municipal broadband that’s been embraced by businesses and residents.

And it's why those who lack access to high-speed internet primarily in poorer urban and rural areas crave broadband, a need intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, we're at a loss to explain why the Ohio Senate's budget strips proposed funding for broadband expansion and severely limits or prohibits local government-owned broadband networks such as FairlawnGig.

The bill would effectively restrict public agencies' ability to expand internet access outside of their boundaries, a necessary ability when private firms fail to invest in what people need. Whether the language will survive the negotiating process with the Ohio House, which provided $190 million in broadband funding, is unclear.

Folks in Fairlawn, Hudson and Medina County, among other places with the endangered connections, are outraged by the language inserted into the state budget bill, noting it happened without public debate.

We urge Ohio lawmakers to listen to the complaints and remove the language.

In a resolution passed unanimously on Tuesday, Fairlawn City Council called “broadband internet service … an essential service for Ohioans’’ and condemned the Senate move. Summit County Council and Medina County commissioners also have passed resolutions against it.

That local communities felt the need to establish their own services speaks to the frustration customers have with Ohio’s major private providers. Frequent outages, opaque price structures and poor customer service are among common complaints.

Fairlawn's initial investment in fiber cost $10 million. The city says in its recent resolution that it acted after private internet providers refused or failed to build what the community needed.

We agree with government officials, such as Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, who say “a monopoly for private providers" would be created if the law changes. She’s also right that the county’s home rule — the ability to make local laws — would be violated.

Language on moral beliefs, state judicial elections

Lawmakers, unfortunately, have thrown more unpleasant surprises into the budget bill.

One insert would allow Ohio physicians, hospitals and health insurance companies to refuse to provide or pay for a medical service if it violates their moral beliefs. They would be immune from lawsuits and would be allowed to sue others over the matter.

Abortion rights and LGBTQ advocates fear more restrictions and discrimination would follow, and we're certain they're correct. As in the language choking municipal broadband, this change was offered without public debate.

Why is the legislature so afraid to present both sides of the debate?

Another “surprise” addition would change how state Supreme Court and appellate court candidates are listed on general election ballots — their party affiliation would be included. Many judges and legal groups have stated their opposition to previous bills on the matter.

Voter rights groups, including the Ohio League of Women Voters and Common Cause Ohio, criticize the change, concerned that voters incorrectly would assume the judges’ rulings always would line up with party views.

The voter rights groups stress that fundamental changes to how judges are elected should not be done through a budget amendment. Lawmakers should keep the process open and attempt change through stand-alone bills, they say.

Perhaps our Republican lawmakers want to avoid packed hearing rooms at the Ohio Statehouse and that's why they've dropped in these changes without public comment.

They didn't seem so disturbed, though, when they allowed an Ohio physician and author of "Saying No to Vaccines," to speak to a House committee for 45 minutes this month in support of a bill dubbed the Vaccine Choice and Anti-Discrimination Act.

Fact check: COVID-19 vaccines don't cause magnetic reactions or contain tracking devices

The vaccine-repudiating doctor became a viral sensation (in the internet sense). Jokes at Ohio's expense and fact-checking, lots of it, spread across the nation.

Obviously, Ohio's legislators have plenty of time to think up important changes to law. The state budget bill is one of the most important duties lawmakers have; it should not serve as a catch-all for projects better left for "next time" or never.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio senators should focus on budget, stop meddling with broadband systems like Fairlawn's

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