MN SF4742

Amends broadband grant award criteria to prioritize applications that commit to workforce best practices, with 50% of 2024 funds, 60% of 2025 funds, and 70% of 2026+ funds reserved for applicants meeting these standards.

Requires laborers on grant-funded projects to either receive prevailing wage rates with enforcement provisions or receive at least 80 hours annual skills training (40 hands-on), employer-paid family health insurance, and retirement benefits equal to 15% of wages.

Establishes a Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program prioritizing applicants with robust training programs, directly employed workforces for broadband work, workforce best practices commitments, and locally-based hiring pipelines for underrepresented communities.

Creates a safety-qualified underground telecommunications installer certification program requiring 40-hour initial training covering utility location, directional drilling, line strike response, and traffic control, plus 4-hour refresher courses every three years.

Mandates that underground telecommunications infrastructure installations within ten feet of existing utilities must be performed by certified installers, with at least two present during directional drilling operations.