Vermont lawmakers have agreed on a broadband bill, which will use $150 million to expand internet access throughout the state.
The legislation, H.360, which relies on federal money from the recently enacted American Rescue Plan, emerged from a conference committee of Senate and House legislators late Tuesday evening.
Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said the House and Senate had largely agreed on the plan to build out broadband âfrom the beginning.â
âWhat we have been doing is fine-tuning,â Cummings said, speaking about the latest version of H.360 on the Senate floor Wednesday. âAnd the reason we’ve had to do so much fine-tuning is that we are creating this system to get access to high-speed broadband out into the rural unserved and underserved areas. This is a totally new system for us.â
The bill would make communications union districts a centerpiece of the stateâs efforts to extend fiber networks to rural areas that lack adequate internet service.
Communications union districts are community-owned fiber-optic networks that serve multiple towns. The Legislature established a legal framework for them to operate in 2015, and more than a dozen have been formed or are under study, covering much of the state.
The legislation would also give small private internet providers access to funds so they, too, can expand broadband to addresses that arenât served.
The Vermont Community Broadband Board, a new governmental entity, would be responsible for managing the broadband money and providing resources for the communications union districts.
A major difference between the versions of H.360 passed by the House and Senate centered on who could receive federal dollars to build out internet service.
House members said they didnât want to give money to private internet providers because, up to this point, they have avoided extending high-speed fiber to sparsely populated regions of the state, where homes and businesses are so far apart that the buildout wouldnât be profitable.
[Get the latest status on more than 30 key pieces of legislation in VTDigger’s 2021 Bill Tracker.]
The Senate changed the bill to give small internet providers an opportunity to receive funding if they too commit to building out service to all addresses in a given region.
Senators noted that in some parts of the state, where CUDs have yet to be formed, small private companies may be better suited to expand internet service. The bill defines small providers as those that operate in no more than five Vermont counties.
The House agreed to this change but put some limits on it â under the latest version of the bill, private providers could not use the funding to build out in a way that would conflict or undermine a communications union districtâs plan to expand internet service.
âWe are moving to a model that says Vermonters want to make sure this gets done. We are no longer relying on for-profit competitors to get to the end of the line,â said Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover, a member of the broadband conference committee.
âWe welcome their participation, but we’re getting it done with or without them.â
In general, lawmakers expect communications union districts and private providers to work together to provide internet service to the nearly 60,000 addresses in Vermont that lack adequate broadband.
The communications union districts often rely on public-private partnerships where the districts and internet providers team up to build and operate fiber networks.
Sibilia said the broadband bill invites every âinternet service provider, cable company, and telco to be a part of this.â
The conference committee also moved to increase the number of members on the Vermont Community Broadband Board from three to five. Two members would be appointed by the governor, one by the House Speaker, one by the Senateâs Committee on Committees, and one by the Vermont Communications Union District Association.
House and Senate budget negotiators agreed this week to increase the amount Vermont can spend on broadband expansion next year from $100 million to $150 million.
The House bill originally included $150 million, but senators reduced it to $100 million and said they intended to appropriate an additional $50 million in the next legislative session.
But the Senate ultimately agreed to put more broadband money on the table for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
âIf it gives greater certainty and support for planning, I see this as very consistent to say, âLetâs just appropriate and provide the certainty that the moneyâs there,ââ Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, the chair of the appropriations committee, said Monday.
âAnd if in fact all of it can be spent in (fiscal year) 22 to get us moving toward our goal, then more power.â
The Senate unanimously passed the latest broadband bill Wednesday afternoon. It is expected to go to Gov. Phil Scottâs desk after receiving a vote in the House.