The following statement may be attributed to Randolph May, President of the Free State Foundation:
“Today the House Ways and Means Committee is continuing its markup of various legislative measures pursuant to the reconciliation process instructions. There are likely others, but one particularly ill-conceived proposal caught my eye. The proposal (Section 135111 in Part 1- Infrastructure Financing) to create a tax credit for the operations and maintenance costs of government-owned broadband systems should not be adopted. Even absent the proposed tax credits, government owned networks already receive preferential treatment vis-a-vis private network operators with regard to accessing public rights of way, avoiding cumbersome permitting processes, benefitting from taxpayer-funded subsidies, and the like. The proposed 30% tax credit for government networks would make it even more difficult for private sector broadband operators that must invest their own risk capital in new or upgraded broadband facilities to compete. Marketplace competition for broadband services would be dampened and consumers will be the losers."
For a more complete examination of the problem nature of government owned networks, see this Free State Foundation Perspectives and the extensive further readings included in the piece:
“Biden Broadband Plan Favoring Government-Owned Networks Lacks a Constitutional Foundation:
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