The Net Neutrality Defender Fighting President Trump From The Other Washington

After the Federal Communications Commission and the US Congress scrapped federal regulations protecting both network neutrality and privacy for Internet service provider customers, several states started working on their own safeguards. With broad support from the governor, attorney general, and legislators of both parties, Washington State has been one of the most aggressive. That could make it a test case not only for telecom policy but for the country’s perennial power struggle between federal and state governments.

“We have a long tradition in this state of working across party lines to protect people’s privacy and enact practical consumer protection laws,” says WA State Rep Drew Hansen (D-WA23), a trial lawyer whose district includes communities across the bay from Seattle. His bill on net neutrality has passed the state house of representatives and is now moving through the senate. His ISP privacy bill, which faltered in 2017, is making its way through the house again, and a state senator has introduced a similar bill. State Rep Hansen’s bill isn’t the only Washington-based effort against the FCC. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is also preparing a legal challenge to the net neutrality decision, along with attorneys general from more than 20 other states and the District of Columbia.