Affordable and reliable broadband is crucial if we want Greater Minnesota to be competitive with the rest of the digital world. Our economy, our children’s education, and many of our lives are now dependent on being connected to the internet. Today, I want to update you on the progress we have been making at the legislature to build out broadband to our communities and to underserved areas throughout our state. Improving rural economic development has always been a central issue of mine at the legislature. This session we have the opportunity to make historic investments in Rural Border to Border broadband given a once-in-a-lifetime investment of federal dollars allocated to Minnesota.
As Chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, my committee has been tasked with helping direct these federal funds to improve broadband connectivity statewide. Minnesota still has about 8% of the state in unserved or underserved areas. We should finish this job of building out broadband to the whole state.
The Senate legislation which will be on the Senate floor soon directs up to $210 million of federal money to improve Minnesota broadband which is on top of the $70 million we passed into law last session. Improving our connectivity has bipartisan support and should not be controversial.
Nonetheless, Democrats in the Minnesota House are working to siphon off this broadband funding for other purposes. Their proposals direct funding to “soft digital” expenses that are more focused on buying some people different “devices.” This plan is mainly targeted to metro areas and leaves rural Minnesota behind without even having internet to hook up a device. It’s like worrying about what kind of car to buy, even though there are many places that do not even have a “road” to drive on. Let’s get the broadband infrastructure built out first before we take our eye off the ball. The federal government dispersed this money specifically for broadband and it shouldn’t be misappropriated for other purposes.
Ultimately, the Senate and the House will each take our respective positions and we will negotiate an agreement along with the Governor. I will continue to advocate that we finish the job of building out our Border-to-Border broadband network first, so everyone can benefit from having high-speed internet in Minnesota. Economic development in Greater Minnesota can take a huge leap forward if we take advantage of this historic opportunity.
As always, if you have questions or concerns on any legislative topic, feel free to contact me any time. You can call me at 651-296-3826 or send me an email at sen.torrey.westrom@senate.mn.