Beto O’Rourke targets Governor Abbott for vetoing Texas bill to improve rural internet access

As he campaigns in rural Texas, Beto O’Rourke is accusing Gov Greg Abbott (R-TX) of stifling efforts to improve broadband internet access there, even after Abbott prioritized the issue in the regular legislative session earlier in 2021. O’Rourke, a Democrat who announced in November he is running for governor, has started criticizing the Republican governor for vetoing a bill in June that would have helped replenish the Universal Service Fund, which supports telecommunications and internet services for more than 1 million rural Texas households. Abbott argued the bill “would have imposed a new fee on millions of Texans.” The bipartisan supporters of the legislation say it was badly needed to help shore up revenue for the fund, which relies on a surcharge on in-state voice calls and has been bleeding money for years. The less revenue the fund has, the less money it has to reimburse providers, making service harder to maintain and more costly to provide in far-flung areas of the state. On December 21, O'Rourke published an op-ed on the issue, saying it is "part of a broader trend of state leaders turning their backs on rural communities."