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Republican lawmakers on the Wisconsin Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee worked to stop excessive taxpayer spending on broadband considering the more than $1 billion the state will get from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers sought an additional $750 million from the state’s 2023-25 budget from state taxpayers to supplement federal broadband money. Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam), co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, told Cap Times that it doesn’t make sense to allocate so much additional funding considering the BEAD allocation.
“Wisconsin has been allocated over one billion dollars in federal funding for expanding access to broadband in our state — with the goal of providing high-speed internet access for all households and businesses that lack it,” Born wrote in an email. “The state will re-evaluate future funding once we have a clearer picture of the broadband landscape after the use of these federal dollars.”
Despite the fiscally responsible decision, Evers said he will push again for increased state broadband funding as lawmakers consider the next budget.
“I’ll be calling on the Legislature to make real, meaningful investments in broadband in our next budget so we can continue building the 21st century infrastructure Wisconsinites need and deserve,” Evers said in a recent statement.
Evers’ Task Force on Broadband Access is pushing for increased funding in light of the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) not being authorized by Congress. That pandemic-era subsidy administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) helped low-income residents pay for broadband service with a $30 per month credit. But, as CNBC pointed out, both Republican and Democratic federal lawmakers have pushed to either renew the ACP or create a new subsidy program. If either occurred, the task force’s suggestion to create a Wisconsin-based internet affordability program for broadband subsidies would likely prove superfluous.
CNBC also noted that private providers have other low-cost programs they have funneled those losing the ACP subsidy toward to help them continue to afford broadband service. In addition, other programs such as the FCC’s Lifeline and an existing subsidy through the Wisconsin Public Service Commission are there to help reduce costs. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which will administer BEAD, is also favoring grant applications that include components that make service more affordable for low-income households.
The Wisconsin broadband task force has been working on ideas on what to do with the BEAD funding, creating a plan to allocate money to projects to bring broadband to about 200,000 unserved or underserved locations in the state.
Wisconsin Examiner reported that the Badger State saw a boom in broadband infrastructure growth in 2023. About 180,000 locations saw new high-speed fiber connections last year, and upgrades in towers and equipment resulted in more than 240,000 additional fixed wireless connections.
“The progress over the year is impressive, and it is clear that public and private investments continue to close the gap in high need areas of Wisconsin,” the task force report states. “However, gaps still exist.”
Fortunately (for Wisconsinites), BEAD money is on the way to fill in those gaps. That federal funding would make it folly to siphon additional state taxpayer dollars toward broadband at this time.
Johnny Kampis is director of telecom policy for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance
