The nation’s largest telecommunications companies have paid nearly $1 million into the campaigns of almost every state legislator in Tennessee since 2004, a review of state campaign finance records shows.

Comcast, AT&T, Charter, Time Warner, Verizon, and CenturyLink have donated $989,000 to 117 of the 132 sitting members of the Tennessee General Assembly over the past 14 years, with more than half of the funds coming from AT&T. Comcast, Charter, and Time Warner also channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars through a political action committee named “PAC-Able Tennessee.”

The single largest recipient of campaign funds from the companies is Senator Bill Ketron (R), whose district spans Smyrna and Murfreesboro. Ketron has received nearly $35,000 in campaign donations from the businesses. The second largest recipient of telecom campaign funds in the General Assembly is Senator Jack Johnson (R) from a district in Williamson County. Johnson has received $31,100 in campaign funds from the companies.

The largest recipient in the House is Rep. Charles Sargent (R), whose district covers Brentwood and Franklin in Williamson County. Sargent received $27,500 in donations from the group.

The largest Democratic recipient in the legislature is Senator Reginald Tate, who received more than $20,000 in funds, from the Memphis area.

Only one member of the Senate, Janice Bowling (R), whose district covers Manchester and McMinnville, had not received any campaign funds from the companies. 13 of the 98 current members of the House did not receive any donations from the group.

Telecom campaign donations by Senate district

Telecom campaign donations by House district

The General Assembly has debated regulation of the telecommunications industry frequently in recent years as some cities in Tennessee, particularly Chattanooga, have attempted to provide government alternatives to the internet plans offered by the marketplace, especially in underserved rural areas.

In 2009 the city-owned Electric Power Board of Chattanooga began building and operating a gigabit fiber-optic internet network for general residential and commercial use, the largest in the nation at the time. This prompted complaints from the telecommunications industry that the city government was unfairly competing with private companies and interfering with the internet market. Lawsuits from Comcast and others in the industry followed, but the city prevailed.

Chattanooga attempted to expand its fiber network to nearby suburbs and rural areas, but was stymied by a 1999 state law that prevents utilities from offering municipal internet service to residents outside of its area of electric service. The law also forbids utilities from offering internet service at a loss, limiting the EPB’s ability to offer subsidized plans to poorer customers.

In July 2014, Chattanooga and Wilson, North Carolina, which had been stymied by a similar state law from expanding a municipal broadband network, formally petitioned the FCC to overrule the laws and allow them to grow.

In February 2015, the commissioners of the FCC voted 3-2 to adopt a regulation formally preempting Tennessee and North Carolina’s laws. The two states sued the FCC in federal court, claiming the FCC had exceeded its legal authority in overturning the laws. In August of 2016 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, and overruled the FCC, allowing the two states’ laws blocking municipal broadband expansion to stand.

Municipal broadband advocates found hope in this year’s legislative session when Senator Bowling introduced a bill in February which would have allowed utilities to offer internet beyond their basic area of service. Bowling’s district is home to the LightTUBe municipal broadband network in Tullahoma. Instead of advancing Bowling’s bill and rolling back the restriction, the legislature passed the “Broadband Accessibility Act of 2017,” which would offer $45 million in grants and tax credits to private ISPs to offer internet service to rural areas in the state.

Donation totals by legislator