Over the weekend, the Bemidji Pioneer ran a letter from Mayor Bruce Ahlgren from Cloquet and Mayor Tom Stiehm from Austin imploring the Senate and Governor Dayton to promote and support the broadband development bill…

The members of the House have already shown their commitment to Greater Minnesota by addressing our most pressing needs, broadband expansion and local government aid (LGA), in their omnibus budget bill. Now it is time for the Senate and governor to step up and be leaders on these important issues.

A lack of adequate broadband coverage is the most critical economic development issue facing Minnesota’s rural communities. Currently, only one-third of Greater Minnesota has the same high-quality broadband coverage available to more than 90 percent of metro-area households (according to data provided by ConnectMN). This puts our communities at a tremendous disadvantage.

The House recognizes that the broadband disparity must be addressed immediately, before business owners, students and residents in Greater Minnesota fall further behind their urban counterparts. As a result, it voted to include funding for a state broadband infrastructure fund in its budget this year.

Senate leadership has been frustratingly silent on broadband. By failing to act, the Senate is effectively agreeing that the disparity between Greater Minnesota and the metro area should continue.

While the governor recently acknowledged his willingness to support funding for broadband this session, Greater Minnesota needs him to take more than an ambiguous stance. He should assert his leadership by sending a strong message to the Legislature that it needs to pass $100 million in funding for broadband, the amount recommended by his own Broadband Task Force.

Just over a week ago, the Blandin Foundation hosted a discussion on the broadband development bill. They discussed the bill in detail, including information on which communities might be best supported by such a bill.