Jake Blumgart

State lawmakers should be thinking about how to go on one-time spending sprees — such as funding infrastructure projects, including broadband, largely underwritten by the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. In recent years, state programs have received applications in excess of available funds, says Anna Read, senior officer for the Pew Charitable Trusts Broadband Access Initiative. “State grant programs to date have focused on expansion of last-mile infrastructure to unserved areas,” she says.