broadband

South Dakota Republican senator John Thune says his question is a simple one. Why is a federal agency that has repeatedly fumbled broadband grants being put in charge of massive new broadband funding in the recently Senate-passed infrastructure bill ...

The Farm Credit Council says the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help improve rural America, bringing infrastructure improvements and jobs. Farm Credit President and CEO Todd Van Hoose said Thursday, “We commend the bipartisan group of 22 Senators and President Biden for their tremendous effort to forge agreement on this critical legislation.” ...

On Thursday, leaders of the House Agriculture Committee called for a full-House vote on a bipartisan rural broadband bill. Chairman David Scott and Ranking Member Glenn GT Thompson requested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican leadership bring the Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act to the House Floor for a vote ...

Congressional Democrats are connecting Ag infrastructure issues, such as broadband, to the very larg, and politically risky, Biden infrastructure effort. House Ag Chair David Scott recently called his panel into session to vote out a $50 billion broadband bill, which is expected to become part of the trillion-dollar-plus Biden infrastructure deal with some Republicans ...

Late last week, the Department of Agriculture and other Federal Agencies announced an interagency agreement to coordinate the distribution of broadband deployment funds. USDA, the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration signed the agreement ...

Last week, Oregon Governor Kate Brown went before the Joint Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development, urging lawmakers to support her call for investments to expand broadband access statewide. Brown has proposed an $118 million investment, with a focus on providing broadband access to underserved communities that, she says, have been disproportionately impacted during the pandemic

The push is on to get every business and home in rural America connected to the Internet with high speed broadband. However, according to Vickie Robinson, General Manager of Microsoft's Global Airband Initiative, connectivity alone is not enough to bring people online. Sh... Read More ...

Over the weekend, Washington lawmakers approved a two-year state capital budget, House Bill 1080. Several farm focused projects across the state will get funding in the upcoming biennium, including: $4.2 million for Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District $300,000 for the Selah-Moxee Irrigation District $235,000 for the Yakima Valley Fair in Grandview $5 Million in Funding for East Low 22 ... Read

Estimates vary on what it will cost to bring high speed Internet access to every home in rural America. Vickie Robinson with Microsoft Global Airband Initiative, recently told a House Ag Committee it could cost between $60-$80 billion to fill the many gaps that exist in broadband service ...

On Tuesday, Washington Representative Kim Schrier participated in a House Ag Committee hearing focused on rural broadband. Lawmakers focused not only on internet connectivity needs, but also opportunities that exist in rural America. Schrier said a lack of broadband access in rural Washington holds the farming community back in a variety of ways ...