States Face Hurdles Funding COVID-19 Broadband Responses

The California Public Utilities Commission is directing $30 million from state subsidy programs to distance learning (see 2004210030). The Nebraska Public Service Commission directed $1 million from state USF last month to reimburse broadband adoption projects for free or discounted broadband to low-income families for online learning. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s USF administrator allowed schools, telemedicine facilities and libraries to increase speeds at no additional cost.

Statewide school closings and rising unemployment spurred the Nebraska PSC to act fast, said Commissioner Crystal Rhoades. The bipartisan group of elected commissioners agreed to the order in less than a week, the Democrat said: “Everybody understood.” The PSC may later reevaluate the amount and time frame for support, said Rhoades, predicting a follow-up will be needed. The agency could quickly set aside money because it has a $50 million annual state USF that may be used for broadband adoption, she said.

National Regulatory Research Institute Telecom Principal Sherry Lichtenberg said few states are positioned to replicate Nebraska’s action because most state USF programs primarily support voice. Fewer than 10 states have broadband funds, with many disconnected from state commissions, she said. “The state broadband fund has money, the state [commission] has a Lifeline fund, but the two don’t get together.”

Vermont’s USF law doesn’t allow Lifeline support for broadband. “It’s a theoretical conversation because ... I don’t have that money,” said Department of Public Service Commissioner June Tierney. Instead, the commissioner issued a call to action April 10 to ISPs and is asking residents to share internet connectivity issues on which the agency can follow up with providers, she said. The DPS hopes to map clusters of people needing access and ask utility providers to “improvise some rudimentary connectivity infrastructure” or identify programs like E-rate to help, she said. “This is all using the bully pulpit,” with no enforcement, but “it’s been very heartening to see what companies have done,” said Tierney. It's“not a very sophisticated approach” and it mightn't work in larger states, she said. “What’s needed is time and attention.”

An Oregon bill to expand state USF to support broadband failed in the last two sessions due to unrelated Republican walkouts (see 2003020025). “If we could have passed it a year ago, we would have money flowing in right now,” said its author, Rep. Pam Marsh (D). It has enough support to pass but Oregon can’t take it up again until next year, she said. Now, the legislature should allocate federal COVID-19 money to broadband during likely special sessions, she said.

The state USF bill “would have been very helpful" for rural areas in the crisis, emailed Senate co-sponsor Arnie Roblan (D). “Although new infrastructure deployment is a long-term solution due to constraints on capital,” Roblan wants Gov. Kate Brown (D) to make a broadband COVID-19 task force under the Office of Emergency Management “to proactively mitigate any broadband network related problem issues,” he said. The legislature’s Emergency Board meets Thursday and “will look into how Oregon can provide special matching state funds for new grant, loan and loan guarantee programs to leverage federal funding programs,” Roblan said: the legislature should address broadband funding in a special session.

New York’s broadband office asked grantees with in-progress projects to prioritize construction in places where they can quickly reach the most customers, said an Empire State Development spokesperson. Massachusetts will provide Wi-Fi hot spots to municipalities lacking broadband access through a partnership with KCST, operator of the Commonwealth’s MassBroadband 123 fiber network, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute said Wednesday. The effort will use that network to connect temporary 250 Mbps wireless hot spots.

Fresh Look

“This pandemic has just intensified our sense of urgency,” said Angie Dickison, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development broadband development manager. Oregon's Marsh agreed: “Those of us who care about broadband have to take advantage of this very strange moment in history because, all [of a] sudden, everybody else gets it, too.”

The coronavirus is showing that services people use at the office or school must be available at home, said Nebraska’s Rhoades. Ubiquitous broadband isn’t a politically controversial goal, but people disagree on how to do it quickly, at a good price and with accountability, she said: “Those questions still remain, but I do think that the urgency of this situation will cause us to think a little more creatively.”

Vermont DPS “will be doubling down on making it clear” to its congressional delegation and federal regulators “that we need help and we need it now,” said Tierney. “What a lot of us are learning in real time is the difference between knowing you have a problem and feeling the effects of the problem,” she said. “I’m hopeful there will be resources forthcoming from the federal government, if not from the state,” but it requires “a real change of consciousness in Washington, D.C., around connectivity.”

Minnesota

Minnesota’s broadband office can't take emergency actions for virus response, but it’s working with the state education department and library to look at how their funds might be used to deploy hot spots, said Dickison of the Department of Employment and Economic Development. Current law allows the office to launch another grant round July 1 for infrastructure deployment only; any change would have to go through the legislature, she said.

The state's Senate Finance Committee delayed clearing a COVID-19 broadband bill (SF-4494) for the Senate floor Wednesday. The state is “desperate” for broadband but more clarity is needed about what coronavirus expenses the federal government will reimburse, said Chair Julie Rosen (R).

SF-4494 would establish an $8 million grant program to fund temporary wireline or wireless broadband access for students' distance learning during the emergency. It would reimburse school districts and charter schools. The bill would set up a $2 million grant program to help licensed healthcare providers buy and install telemedicine equipment.

The bill would deposit another $10 million in FY 2021 into the state broadband fund. Some members were skeptical that could truthfully be tied to COVID-19 response. It won’t help kids facing school closings this year, said Sen. Michelle Benson (R). Sen. Carla Nelson (R) countered that the money would help with the virus’ long-term effects. Members debated the funding source and if the state would be reimbursed. Ranking Member Richard Cohen (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) sought language making funding contingent on federal reimbursement. Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL) asked to carve out the second $10 million but withdrew when the committee decided to work more on the bill.

Parents are driving their offspring to school parking lots for internet, said sponsor Sen. Torrey Westrom (R) at the livestreamed hearing. “The need is real.” As committee members met virtually, Westrom's video cut out. When he returned, the senator paused to check if his kids were using bandwidth on the home Wi-Fi.