Washington lawmakers uphold net neutrality rules in 35-14 vote
28 Feb 2018
Washington state yesterday voted 35-14 in favour of net neutrality yesterday. The state senate sent a bill to governor Jay Inslee's desk that would implement a local version of Obama-era regulations requiring internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally.
The measure also goes against the decision of Federal Communications Commission officials, who repealed the national rules last year and said states cannot implement their own.
Under net neutrality regulations, internet service providers are barred from blocking or slowing down lawful internet content or offering faster speeds to certain companies over others on the basis of much they pay, such as allowing Netflix to stream better than Hulu.
House Bill 2282 was supported by most Democrats and some Republicans, who said it was necessary to ensure corporations would not hamper the free flow of information in a Democratic society.
''States must act to protect the internet,'' said state senator Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, in a floor speech yesterday.
Inslee, a Democrat who supports net neutrality, celebrated the passage of the bill yesterday on social media. The bill is expected to be signed into law.
Others in the GOP have termed it anti-business and a hit to innovation that could allow faster internet speeds and better access to everyone.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers yesterday introduced legislation in both chambers of Congress to reverse the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) repeal of net neutrality rules.
The Senate legislation has the support of 50 lawmakers, including one Republican, senator Susan Collins (Maine), which makes it only one vote shy of the necessary number to pass in the upper chamber under rules that prevent a filibuster.
According to commentators, even if Democrats could get support from one Republic senators, a resolution to preserve the Obama-era net neutrality rules faces a steep uphill battle in the House.
