According to the Des Moines Register…

State legislative leaders reached agreement Thursday on a plan to expand broadband service in Iowa that’s been a top priority of Gov. Terry Branstad.

House File 655 was approved by the Iowa Senate on a 48-2 vote and was sent to the House, where it passed 82-12. The goal is to provide high-speed Internet service to underserved areas in Iowa, particularly in rural communities.

Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, said the Senate agreed to support a version of a bill approved by the House earlier this session that provides property tax abatements to companies installing equipment to build out the broadband infrastructure. The measure also provides a framework for a grants program, but there is no state appropriation to fund it, he said.

Always helpful to look at what the neighbors are doing. (We looked at North Dakota a week ago.)

As it stands, Minnesota is more deeply invested in that we have had funding to promote better broadband. It puts us in a position to be a leader in a geographic area – if we continue to increase our investment – because as it stands Minnesota is looking to invest less this year than last – while those around us are hoping to increase investment…

The idea is to fund the grants program in the future with state, federal or private money to provide an incentive for companies to expand broadband service, Sodders said. The bill defines high-speed Internet service as offering a minimum of 25 megabits per second for downloads and 3 megabits per second for uploads.

“This is a good start. Over time, I think more will be done,” Sodders said.

We run the risk of losing our edge if/when Iowa and others start investing too.