Could a state cell phone tax power Pennsylvania's rural broadband expansion?

One PA farmer’s group has an idea to pay for expanding rural broadband access — a tax on cell phone bills. The proposal was floated recently at the annual PA Farm Show in Harrisburg (PA) on back-to-back days by PA State Grange president Wayne Campbell. As a starting point, Campbell suggested that a $0.75 to $1 surcharge per-month on every cell phone user could finance small, matching state grants for local broadband projects. While expanding the access and quality of rural internet access is a bipartisan goal, little has actually been done to address “the elephant in the room,” Campbell said.  And that’s “simply how to pay for it,” he said. Gov Tom Wolf (D-PA) has his own proposal: A multi-billion dollar bond program, funded by 20 years of a state severance tax on natural gas production, to pay for a host of statewide infrastructure projects.