Better Internet for a Better Kentucky

In his first State of the Commonwealth address in January 2020, Governor Andy Beshear (D-KY) asked lawmakers to address some stark realities. At the time, Kentucky was the third poorest state by per capita income and over 1 in 5 children in the state lived in poverty. The state ranked in the top eight of states in terms of hunger. Kentucky had some of the highest child abuse and neglect rates in the country. The state ranked 45th in the country for adults with high school diplomas. The state incarcerated its own people at one of the highest rates in the U.S. and in the world. "To attract the jobs of the future, we must invest in three areas: infrastructure, workforce training, and most importantly, education," declared Gov. Beshear. That included "coming together to chart our future to ensure every area of the state has high-speed internet."