It was a quick meeting today. Policymakers asking good questions with a theme of how can we get money to the unserved folks most quickly. There are clearly a few folks on the committee who are frustrated with their own home access. That may help ignite a fire under everyone – especially as most legislative meetings seem to be remote this year. There is a plan to recycle HF14 (via Rep Rob Ecklund) to get money for broadband. Next step might be getting presentations from the providers; maybe they’ll hear from the communities too.

The MN House Industrial Education and Economic Development Committee got a presentation (House Industrial Ed Broadband Update_DEED) from the Office of Broadband Development on Broadband. They outlined the actions they have taken to get federal funding.

• Capital Projects Funds – hope to hear by end of month. Will run grant program once they hear – with $70M going to border to border grants.
• 240,000 houses do not have broadband in MN (speeds 100/20 Mbps); 224,000 of those are in non-metro areas. These numbers are likely low.

Q & A:

• Why did MN only apply for $70M – although could have gone for $180M. The Legislature only appropriated $70M but there is a chance for more?
• What about ARPA? How much and where was spent at local level? Not sure – but folks are used it. We will share more when we have it.
• Is there a timeline for spending federal funds? Until end of 2026
• Do we have manpower to spend federal funds? Treasury will likely be flexible since worldwide there are supply chain and labor issues.
• Are we trying to expand broadband to expand to those who don’t have it expeditiously? Yes
• Who is helping unserved areas? Office of Broadband Development will be reaching out on federal opportunities
• I want to see every communication made to unserved areas – the ones who are truly unserved, like my area.
• What has been the impact of RDOF? Treasury says Office of Broadband can award Border to Border funds if the provider doesn’t have an enforceable contract at the time.
• How much to get broadband to everyone? The areas left are most expensive. We can look into it.
• What is Walz’s Broadband Budget? $170M of state general funds – spent over at least 3 years. Also budget to get more staff on DNR to help with permitting.
• What is timeline for opening border to border grants? We are set up; we just need approval
• If we had appreciated funds in 2021, could you have spent them? Yes