Veteran state Sen. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) is no fan of a bill that would authorize a plan designed at expanding 5G technology.
“You don’t need to authorize this bill to get 5G technology,” Mazzochi said during a recent House floor debate on the issue. “One of the key pieces of local control we took away from our municipalities was to tell our units of local government that they could not stop new poles from going up all over the place ... Another thing this body didn’t know is real world experience of municipalities with new pole demands. ... My district has been the pilot location for the entire state.”
Effective immediately, House Bill 2379 would seek to amend the Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act to provide for the repeal of the measure by Dec. 31, 2026.
Mazzochi wants to make sure residents are fully warned before any actions are taken.
“You don’t want this to be coming to your districts without serious change to the small cell wireless act,” she added. “You don’t want your residents to have no advance notice you’re going to get these things showing up on your private property.”
Mazzochi said there should be only one way forward on the issue.
“This bill should not move without giving our municipalities more meaningful control over the placement of small wireless facilities,” she said.
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