News

Act now: Urge legislators, governor to support $100M Broadband Infrastructure Fund

Governor Dayton and House and Senate leadership will be setting their budget priorities soon, possibly later this week. We need to let them know that it is imperative that they include the $100 million Broadband Infrastructure Fund in the state’s budget this year. Support for the $100 million Broadband Infrastructure Fund is growing—we need to keep up the momentum as we move into the last few critical weeks of the legislative session.

Please contact your legislators, Governor Dayton, Speaker of the House Paul Thissen and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and urge them to create and fund a $100 million Broadband Infrastructure Fund this year.  

• Broadband has a large return on economic growth. If 95% of Minnesotans could access high-quality broadband, it would have an annual impact of $1 billion on the state’s gross domestic product, according to data from the Strategic Networks Group.
• Minnesota ranks only 23^rd in the nation in terms of broadband service. The situation is even worse in Greater Minnesota, where only 32 percent of households have access to broadband coverage at the same speeds available to 92 percent of households in the metro area.
• With a significant projected budget surplus, now is the time for the Governor to follow through with the recommendation of his Task Force on Broadband for a $100 million Broadband Infrastructure Fund.

Please contact your legislators by phone or email today!

• To find your legislator, go to: http://www.gis.leg.mn/OpenLayers/districts/
• For a listing of Representatives’ contact information, go to: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/hmem.asp.
• For a listing of Senators’ contact information, go to: http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/index.php?ls=#header
• Contact Governor Dayton by phone at 800-657-3717 or at http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form/ . If you use the contact form, please indicate “Budget” as the Issue Topic and “Broadband” as the Subject.
• Contact Speaker Thissen by phone at 651-296-5375 or by email at rep.paul.thissen@house.mn.
• Contact Senate Majority Leader Bakk by phone at 651-296-8881 or at http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/member_emailform.php?mem_id=1003&ls=. If you use the contact form, please indicate “Budget – Broadband” as the Subject.

Be sure to share this Action Alert with other members of your business or organization. Also, if you are on Twitter, please retweet @the_gmnp or @greatermncities and include #broadbandnow. The more people to contact lawmakers about this important issue, the greater our chances of making border-to-border broadband a reality for everyone in Minnesota!

Help us continue the momentum. So far, 12 newspapers have published editorials encouraging the state to make a substantial investment to improve access to high-quality broadband. To read the editorials and other articles, go to http://gmnp.org/press/. Your assistance today could make an impact for the future of Greater Minnesota.