Oregon’s State Net Neutrality Plan Moves Forward

The FCC’s repeal of net neutrality regulations officially went into effect last week, but some state governments across the U.S. have announced plans to adopt their own net neutrality protections in light of the federal government’s decision. One of those states, Oregon, moved one step closer to implementing these protections on Monday.

According to the Statesman Journal, the Oregon House of Representatives passed a net neutrality proposal by a 40-17 vote. The plan doesn’t mandate internet service providers to treat all internet content equally but does prohibit state agencies from purchasing internet service from any ISP that prioritizes certain content over others, beginning in 2019.

Oregon Republicans denounced the plan as possibly leading to state agencies regulating ISPs themselves and suggested implementing a study group in the plan’s place. That suggestion was subsequently voted down in the House and now the proposal will move to the Oregon State Senate for a final vote. If it passes, it will land on Gov. Kate Brown’s desk for final approval. Brown has previously shown support for net neutrality.

The plan should carry the desired effect as, according to The Oregonian, two of the state’s largest ISPs, CenturyLink and Frontier Communications, say that government contracts represent an important and sizable part of their business. Losing those government contracts due to content prioritization could greatly impact both companies.