This week the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced nearly $20 million in grants for broadband development in greater Minnesota. Those funds were made available under a program created last year, the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program.
Four years ago we set a goal for every household, school, hospital and business to have access to high-speed broadband Internet. The funding made available by the Legislature last year demonstrates that we're serious about meeting that goal. With more than $40 million in applications, we didn't anticipate such high demand for this program and granted out every penny in the first year. With such a successful start, I'm authoring legislation for an additional $100 million to continue building our infrastructure in greater Minnesota. I'm pleased the governor is also including funding for broadband in his budget.
I would like to commend former Reps. John Ward and Joe Radinovich for the hard work they did to pass this legislation and secure more than $2 million in funds in and around their districts. As a result of the their work for greater Minnesota, more than 6,000 homes, nearly 100 community organizations and 150 businesses will have access to high-speed broadband Internet access across the state.
Investing in broadband isn't just for entertainment and email, it improves people's lives, grows local economies and keeps Minnesota competitive in the 21st century. Minnesota has led the nation on many fronts, and we will in the future because of the good work we've been doing at the Legislature.
Rep. Sheldon Johnson
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DFL-St. Paul
