Capitol Coverage: Rural Broadband

A measure to put more money into the development of broadband in rural parts of Colorado initially passed the House today. Our statehouse reporter Bente Birkeland has more.

The bipartisan measure would set aside money from a fund that is currently used to pay to build phone lines in hard to serve area. It’s a surcharge people pay on their phone bills. Democrat Rep. Barbara Mclachlan of Durango supports it.

“We need to make sure that rural Colorado gets into the 21^st century and to do that you need broadband. I can drive around many parts of my district and there is nothing in there, we can drive for hours and have no broadband.”

Senate bill 2 is a top priority bill of the session. Currently large swaths of rural Colorado don’t have high speed internet. The Governor says it’s critical for public safety, schools, and businesses. I’m BB at the state capitol.