Oregon lawmakers push for plan to get $200M for high-speed broadband access

Over the nearly two years since the pandemic began, a lack of broadband internet access has hampered many Oregonians from participating fully in a more virtual world.

Lack of high-speed access has meant challenges working remotely, helping children keep up with virtual classes and even connecting with friends and family.

Oregon officials for years have promised to work towards improvement. Proponents say their latest legislative proposal on this issue will allow the state to take advantage of millions in federal funds for the construction of a comprehensive broadband network.

House Bill 4092 is a bipartisan, bicameral bill with broad support from interest groups, including the Oregon Telecommunications Association, Oregon Health and Science University, Oregon Rural Health Association, Oregon Library Association and League of Oregon Cities.

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At the bill's first public hearing Wednesday, Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Southern Jackson County, one of the bill's chief sponsors, said the coronavirus pandemic has shown that broadband access is critical for the emotional, social, economic and physical health of Oregonians.

"Individuals and families who lacked access to broadband over the past almost two years missed out on public appointments, remote work opportunities, online learning, digital grocery deliveries, live-streamed religious services and much more," she said.

Planning for funding

In November, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which allocated $65 billion for broadband expansion nationwide. Oregon will receive at least $100 million of that, with the potential for more based on need.

An additional $100 million is anticipated from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Marsh called the investments "once-in-a-generation" and said the state needs to be prepared to utilize the money when it arrives.

The bill is an omnibus package with five key components:

• Updates the membership and authority of the Oregon Broadband Advisory Council and provides oversight and recommendations to implement broadband goals.

• Sets a strategic framework for utilizing state and federal broadband investment.

• Creates criteria for Oregon to work with providers to collect information and develop statewide maps for determining eligibility for funds and to confirm the allocation.

• Establishes the Connecting Oregon Libraries Fund and allocates funds for the purpose of providing matching funds for federal money received by the State Library.

• Requires the Public Utilities Commission to study the feasibility of expanding the Oregon Telephone Assistance Program, which lowers the monthly cost of phone or broadband services for low-income individuals.

Efforts to date

Broadband access has been a topic of concern for lawmakers for some time.

The Oregon Broadband Office was established in 2018 to develop broadband investments, deploy strategies to reach underserved areas and advocate for policies that would expand broadband availability.

In the early months of the pandemic, the state allocated funds to expand broadband access and created the Broadband Fund in special session to support those efforts.

Despite those recent actions, significant gaps in broadband access remain.

An analysis by USA Today and the Stateman Journal in July showed that while broadband is available to residents, fewer have actual high-speed access.

According to a Federal Communications Commission study, in about half of Oregon's counties, broadband access is available to at least 86% of residents. Yet also in about half of the state's counties, according to Microsoft, no more than 49% of households have high-speed access, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

Poorer counties tended to have less access.

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Another of the bill's chief sponsors, Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, said the need for broadband access in rural communities was becoming more apparent even before the pandemic. Now, Owens said, it's clear broadband is one of the three critical components to ensuring rural communities are viable into the future.

"In order to have any type of sustainable growth in our rural or frontier communities, we have to have good schools, good medical and broadband," he said. "Without broadband, we're not going to have any type of sustained growth."

Broadband is particularly important for augmenting rural economies, he said, allowing communities to become less reliant on agriculture and natural resources.

While the bill does have substantial support, the biggest concern from some is the collection of data for the creation of the broadband access map.

Beth Cooley, assistant vice president of state legislative affairs at CTIA, told lawmakers Wednesday that while the trade association supports the goals of HB 4092, they oppose the bill in its current form.

CTIA is a trade association that represents the wireless communications industry in the United States.

The organization's concern is that the bill's text is not aligned with the drafter's stated intent to keep broadband access data private. Cooley requested an amendment that would specify the maps are only provided upon application of a broadband grant.

"HB 4092 reads as a broad, sweeping data collection mandate on the entire broadband ecosystem, including wireless, outside of the broadband grant process," she said.

USA Today contributed to this report.

Reporter Connor Radnovich covers the Oregon Legislature and state government. Contact him at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich.

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This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Bill would prepare Oregon to receive $200M for broadband expansion