Proponents of municipal broadband in Missouri can breathe easy for a while, as the latest attempt to prevent cities and towns from offering Internet service to their residents has failed.

As we wrote two weeks ago, the Missouri House of Representatives tucked new rules for municipal broadband into a completely unrelated bill that prohibits traffic ticket quotas. The Senate had passed the same bill, but without the muni broadband restrictions, so the two chambers had to set up a conference committee to hash out the text. The final bill was passed Friday, without the restrictions on municipal broadband that had been proposed by Republican House member Lyndall Fraker.

After lobbying from muni broadband advocates, the "conference committee stripped Rep. Fraker’s language out of the bill," the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) wrote. CLIC reports that proponents of the muni broadband restriction "also attempted to slide its language into HB 1912, a bill concerning county buildings. But under threat of filibuster, the sponsor of the amendment backed off and offered his own amendment to strip out his broadband language. The session ended on May 13, 2016, with no new restrictions on local Internet choice."

CLIC President James Baller, an attorney who works on municipal broadband issues, called the Missouri battle "one of the most challenging fights that we’ve faced in several years.”

The local broadband restrictions were opposed by the Missouri Public Utility Alliance, the Missouri Municipal League, Google, and various "communities and private-sector companies," CLIC wrote. CLIC said it expects the battle to resume next year.

The Missouri proposal would have prevented cities and towns from competing against private ISPs unless they meet certain conditions or have a municipality-wide vote. Ballot questions give private ISPs a chance to lobby heavily against public sector projects. Under the proposal, community-wide votes would be required unless fewer than 50 percent of residents have access to Internet service or the municipal network would cost less than $1 million over five years. AT&T, which donated heavily to legislators, supports the restrictions.