Final approval given to bill allocating $1.5 billion to broadband expansion in Texas

Texas lawmakers made the biggest investment for broadband development in state history with a bill allocating $1.5 billion to an infrastructure fund that is meant to expand internet availability in a state where 7 million people lack access to the service. House Bill 9, filed by State Rep. Trent Ashby, (R- Lufkin) would create the Texas Broadband Infrastructure Fund. The bill is accompanied by House Joint Resolution 125, which proposes a constitutional amendment that would require voter approval to create the fund. The final version of the legislation fell short of what State Rep. Ashby initially proposed. The original bill would have allocated $5 billion to the fund, but the budget approved by the Legislature pared it to $1.5 billion. That is also significantly less than the amount Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R-TX) said the state needed to get fully connected — $10 billion. The Broadband Infrastructure Fund will help pay to develop and finance broadband and telecommunications services and 911 services, as well as providing matching funds for federal money from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, among other items.