Federal act threatens rural Internet project in Wisconsin

The use of stimulus money to expand high-speed Internet service in Sauk County (Wisconsin) has run into a roadblock because of federal guidelines dictating workers' wages that local officials say would exceed $40 an hour.

Reedsburg city officials say it puts the project at risk, and they might have to return a $5.2 million stimulus grant aimed at expanding broadband service in a rural area. But they won't give up without a fight. "You are going to have to pry that money out of my fingers before I give it back," said David Mikonowicz, Reedsburg utility superintendent. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included about $7 billion in grants, loans and loan guarantees to extend broadband to underserved rural areas. It's compatible with President Barack Obama's goal of making high-speed Internet available to 98% of Americans in the next five years. In Reedsburg, the problem stems from the federal Davis-Bacon Act, which requires contractors working on federally assisted projects to pay workers no less than the locally prevailing wage for similar projects. Contractors putting fiber-optic cable in the ground would have to pay wages comparable with highway and high-voltage power line projects because broadband is too new to have its own wage category, Mikonowicz said.