Infrastructure Bill Contains Big Internet Goals

Infrastructure Bill Contains Big Internet Goals

Haylie Shipp
Haylie Shipp
With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I'm Haylie Shipp.

It's kind of like football - but different.

The White House Monday released the Rural Playbook, which the Biden administration says will benefit rural communities. It is part of the bipartisan infrastructure law and will send billions of dollars to those communities across the country.

So who are the players? Well, standing sky-high and needed all across the country, broadband is in the playbook with $65 billion dollars allocated to bringing access to high-speed internet.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says that it's not just about the places that need internet in general...

"But it's also identifying places that maybe have internet access but it's not high speed. It doesn't have the download and upload speeds necessary and that's the beauty of this infrastructure bill, this bipartisan infrastructure bill, cause it provides the Department of Agriculture additional resources to address that issue.

Can't afford access? Well this next player has your back! Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu...

"As you may know, in this bill there's a program called the Affordability Connectivity Program which basically subsidizes, to the tune of $30 a month, the folks that live 200% under the poverty level."

The Rural Playbook is available online at build.gov/rural.

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