NLC, USCM, NACo and NATOA Jointly Oppose preemption bills
November 18, 2025: The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) joined with The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), the National League of Cities (NLC) and the National Association of Counties (NACo), writing the chairs, ranking members and members of the House Commerce and the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology regarding the Markup of 28 Bills to Streamline Broadband Permitting. The Joint Letter is in Opposition to 11 of the 28 bills before the Communications & Technology Subcommittee for Mark-up on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.
The letter was accompanied by the NLC, USCM, NACo and NATOA Joint Comments submitted today in the FCC’s Notice of Inquiry, Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployments, WC Docket No. 25-253.
The Associations wrote: “These bills represent an unprecedented federal intrusion into established local decision-making processes, favoring large broadband, telecommunications, wireless, and cable companies at the expense of residents and taxpayers. These bills strip local governments of the ability to effectively manage the infrastructure built on local streets and in neighborhoods, while imposing no reciprocal obligations on providers.
“Local governments are not barriers to broadband deployment. Rather, they are indispensable partners. Local permitting offices around the nation work every day to coordinate construction in crowded and complex rights-of-way to ensure public safety, manage traffic, protect existing utilities and workers, and maintain fair competition. Congress itself affirmed the essential nature of this locally-driven process with Sections 224, 253, and 332 of the Telecommunications Act.”
“We urge the Subcommittee to reject legislation that undermines local governments’ ability to protect public safety, manage taxpayer-owned infrastructure, and ensure that broadband deployments benefit all communities.
NLC, NACo, USCM and NATOA also filed our Joint Comments on the FCC proceeding, Notice of Inquiry - Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployments, WC Docket No. 25-253 to share our position on the Commission’s questions regarding local permitting processes, timelines, and compensation for rights-of-way access, as well as the Commission’s broad mischaracterization of local rights-of-way management. We included with the House letter a copy of the NOI filing.
In the NOI Comments, the Local Government Associations wrote, “These comments respond to the Commission’s questions regarding local permitting processes, timelines, and compensation for rights-of-way access, as well as the Commission’s broad mischaracterization of local rights-of-way management. As representatives of the level of government closest to the people, local leaders have worked hard to collaborate creatively with federal, state, and private sector partners to bring high-speed, affordable broadband and telecommunications services to all communities.
“The Local Government Associations strenuously object to the Commission’s depiction of local permitting as an obstacle to the provision of wireline telecommunications services. The parties suggesting this are seeking to strip local governments of their ability to responsibly manage public assets in the rights-of-way, while still expecting to have access to rights-of-way that are safe, well-planned, and conducive to technology-neutral competition.”