The new state budget sets aside $250 million for broadband programs – that’s a restoration of what Gov. Mike DeWine had initially proposed, which the House reduced and the Senate totally eliminated. But DeWine thinks the resolution is a good one. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports.
The Senate had not only eliminated the broadband funds, but banned municipalities from operating current and future broadband programs. DeWine says there was concern that even the money were restored and the ban erased, those programs wouldn’t be able to access those funds.
“You heard from municipalities, they were yelling pretty loud because they basically said, look, this – we can’t do this. So we think it’s usuable, we think it’s functionable, we think the legislature corrected that.”
Communities have cheered the restoration of the broadband funds and the lifting of that ban, along with advocates who say wider broadband access will help with telemedicine, education and other efforts.