US Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) yesterday proposed legislation that would allow cities and towns to build their own Internet services even in states that have laws restricting municipal broadband.

Eshoo's Community Broadband Act of 2016 comes a month after the states of North Carolina and Tennessee won a federal appeals court ruling preserving laws preventing municipal broadband providers from expanding outside their territories. The Federal Communications Commission had tried to overturn the laws, which remain in place in about 20 states.

“I’m disappointed that a recent court ruling blocked the FCC’s efforts to allow local communities to decide for themselves how best to ensure that their residents have broadband access,” Eshoo said in an announcement. “Rather than restricting local communities in need of broadband, we should be empowering them to make the decisions they determine are in the best interests of their constituents. Too many Americans still lack access to quality, affordable broadband and community broadband projects are an important way to bring this critical service to more citizens.”

Eshoo said that "powerful special interests in state capitals"—i.e., ISPs who lobby against municipal broadband—have played a big role in denying communities the ability to make their own telecommunications decisions.

Eshoo said she modeled her bill after one introduced by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2005. Eshoo's Community Broadband Act says that states may not prohibit "any public provider from providing [advanced telecommunications capability] to any person or any public or private entity." The Eshoo bill would also protect private ISPs from discriminatory regulations. Local governments that offer their own Internet service would not be allowed to make rules that favor the public broadband service over private ones.

The bill probably doesn't have much chance of passing as long as both chambers of Congress are controlled by Republicans. But it shows that the battle over municipal broadband is not over, despite the FCC's loss in court.