Governing reports..

Today, access to vital and continuously changing health advice is almost entirely Web-based. Public health agencies depend on an online triage to manage access to testing. Hanging on to a job, keeping up with school assignments and regaining employment all depend on Internet connectivity, and those most at risk are least likely to have it.

Estimates of the number of U.S. households without Internet access range as high as 30 percent. The Pew Research Center, which has been tracking Internet usage for 20 years, estimates that about three-quarters of homes have broadband Internet service.

The UN declared access to the Internet to be a human right in 2016, and there are increasing calls for a public utility that could provide affordable, world-class Internet service to all Americans.

Since April, more than 40 bills have been introduced by state legislatures that address some aspect of broadband access.

They include the bill in the MN Legislature, which I’ll paste below but this is one of those rare times where I am at least as interested in what’s being proposed in other areas, which is also available in the article…

SF4494, a Minnesota bill, appropriates $8 million for emergency distance learning and broadband access grants. Funds can be used for purposes such as providing broadband access to the households of students otherwise unable to get online and providing them with the equipment necessary to access online learning materials.