Grassroots Group Meets with Rep. Latta Team on HR 2289, A Bill Allowing Telecom to Supersede Sovereignty
BY JEFF SKINNER
STATEWIDE - members of the South West Ohio For Responsible Technology, or SWORT team sat down with aides from the office of Ohio Representative Bob Latta and The National Health Federation on several matters regarding telecom regulations, including HR 2289, a federal telecom bill which seeks to remove local zoning sovereignty from cities and townships and put it in the hands of telecom companies.
HR 2289 is a federal telecom bill which, among other changes, will fundamentally alter the ability of local communities to dictate their own zoning. Within the bill, several provisions will fundamentally alter the power telecom companies have over your neighborhoods. The bill forces local governments to approve cell tower and wireless modification requests within strict, short deadlines, potentially automatically approving ("deeming granted") applications if deadlines are missed, which has drawn significant opposition from local government associations.
In addition to attacking local sovereignty, the bill also expands existing prohibitions on local governments from regulating facilities based on the environmental or health effects of radio frequency emissions, as long as they comply with federal FCC limits, which critics argue are outdated.
Members of SWORT presented to Latta’s team that the FCC regulations are not just outdated, with posted exposure limited to EMF and radiation types dating to 1996, but that the FCC has actively refused to update them despite court orders to do so. The house is expected to hold a hearing on Friday for the bill, with the hope that Ohio lawmakers, including Latta, will voice several significant issues pertaining to how this regulation will impact Ohioans.
“In that hearing this Friday, we hope you also will propose a hearing on why the FCC has ignored for four years a court ruling to update the wireless radiation exposure limits that the court chastised FCC for cavalierly or capriciously ignoring the evidence of the science,” Charles Frohman at the National Health Federation said. “We don't have any safety guidelines. The current exposure limits go back to 1996. Smart tech wasn't even invented back then. No one I know of is agreeing with the FCC that their old guidelines are sufficient for today's modern technology. We're being experimented on with no informed consent. That kind of flies in the face of the goodwill health freedom people have for your party now because of your heroic defense of our informed consent in the face of Orwellian vaccine mandates.”
Many studies have already been outlined noting the deleterious impacts of 5G technology on DNA and human cells. Further, many suppressed studies have indicated 5G technology can create a symptom onset similar to what was seen with those diagnosed with Covid-19. Despite these studies, the FCC has refused to update any exposure limits or investigate, leading many outlets to use the baseless claims that 5G has no deleterious impacts on health, for no other reason than there are minimal acknowledged studies actually looking.
“The FDA, National Toxicology Program, World Health Organization, and whistleblowers from industry all know wireless radiation damages DNA, causes cancer, offers special caution for children, including mental damage,” Frohman said. “Republicans, the grassroots, expect a little bit of respect for the informed consent of property owners, not just telecom profits.”
According to Frohman, local governments across the state are in opposition to the bill because of the direct impact to community sovereignty and property values imposed by the potential new guidelines. Under HR 2289, local communities would have an incredibly limited time to actually consider applications for cell tower implementation before an ‘automatic approval’ of sorts would be forced through, something that Frohman says is incredibly unrealistic given the actual time it takes to complete due diligence on location scouting locally.
“We don't want to be forced to accept towers outside our children's classrooms or the bedrooms,” Frohman said. “Your constituents are up in arms protesting cell towers in Youngstown, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland. Even your state reps, over a dozen of them, have written on our behalf to get the FCC to end its refusal to update the safety guidelines to base them on the science. The committee bill, the big one right here in blue highlight, is going to just roll over local official discretion on where to locate these towers. No environmental reviews, no historical reviews, no moratoria, no requirements to prove a gap in service. They can load an antenna on any structure. Total, utter preemption. The reality is the shock clocks and other limits that your committee is pushing aren't realistic. Because experts, when a tower is applied for, have to look at the existing irrigation lines, sewer pipes, and make sure there's no collision with the broadband equipment. It's a time-consuming, work-intensive process. And that's why local governments are opposing your bill.”
Rep. Bob Latta has been intimately involved with shaping telecom policy nationally, citing a strong urge to 'modernize infrastructure'. The telecom companies are also some of Latta's largest campaign contributors according to OpenSecrets. The Communications/Electronics" sector has contributed over $1.6 million to Latta over the course of his political career from 2007-2024.
In the 2016 campaign cycle, Latta was noted as receiving the 13th most money from telecom companies among all 435 House members nationally. In the current 2023-2024 cycle, he ranks as the 15th highest recipient of "Telecom Services & Equipment" money among all members of Congress.
The disparity between what Ohioans want and what Telecom services are seeking could not be more divergent. The question remains on where Ohio's elected representatives will stand between their constituency and their investors.
UPDATE 12/13/2025 - SWORT has issued the following statement pertaining to the above article.
"SWORT is a non-partisan group and we are opposed to privacy invasive and unsafe technologies that are being installed in our communities without our knowledge or consent and often using taxpayer dollars. We receive no funding. We do not take a position on medical freedom or vaccines. Sometimes we have conference calls with our federal lawmakers regarding telecom and wireless issues and we allow national experts to lead them. We do not pay them to lead these calls. These experts tailor their delivery based on the lawmaker's background and voting history. Since 2024, we've had conference calls with staff members at the offices of Senator Bernie Moreno and former Senators Sherrod Brown and JD Vance as well as Congressmen Warren Davidson, Greg Landsman, and Max Miller and former Congressman Brad Wenstrup. If you have questions, send them to swo4responsibletech@fuse.net"
