The St Cloud Times posts an opinion piece from Senator Putnam…

I think some people were surprised when I was named Chair of the Agriculture, Broadband, and Rural Development Committee in the Minnesota Senate.  You wouldn’t call our community agricultural as a whole, and I’m not a farmer.  So, I guess the surprise makes some sense.

Here’s what he said about broadband…

We are putting $100 million toward broadband and dedicating a chunk of that sum to hard to reach, underserved areas through the new “low-density” program.  It’s more expensive to extend broadband to the end of a road or in a very rural area, but folks who live there matter too.

We might know about the need for broadband, but there is a good chance we aren’t as aware of the stress and economic hardship caused when a grain elevator fails.

As I’ve said before, while $100 million is more than has been received in the past, it will not get broadband to everyone. Not even when the federal money starts seeping into the State.