R.I.P., House Bill 887. We hardly knew ye.

Well, that didn’t take long.

House Bill 887, the Georgia Communications Services Tax Act, seems to have pretty much crashed and burned within days of being introduced, per today’s AJC.

From the story, by state capitol reporter Mark Niesse:

What’s left of the legislation is a policy for rural internet expansion without any funding.

The latest version of HB 887, which shrunk from 46 pages to 16 pages Thursday, would allow local electric membership corporations to provide internet services, reduce fees EMCs can charge for internet providers to use their poles and set a policy for rural communities to qualify for potential future grant funding.

This is probably a better starting point for the rural broadband discussion anyway.  More news as it develops.