The infrastructure bill's broadband investments are inspired by Colorado's experience

Washington may soon make the biggest broadband investment in US history, and the first draft was written in Colorado. In August 2021, the Senate passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill that includes a historic $65 billion for broadband. This section draws directly from the BRIDGE Act, the bill I wrote with Coloradans to reflect our state’s struggles and successes against the digital divide. As usual, Colorado didn’t wait on Washington to act; cities created their own municipal networks and electric coops deployed fiber-optic networks in rural communities at world-class speeds and prices. Based on the BRIDGE Act, the infrastructure bill gives the lion’s share of the broadband funding to states, not Washington. This is a sea change in policy because it puts states and local leaders — not federal bureaucrats — in the driver’s seat. After all, they have the best understanding of needs on the ground and the greatest incentive to spend limited funds wisely. The bill also more than quadruples the minimum speeds for new broadband networks, includes $2 billion for broadband on Tribal lands, and prioritizes affordability by requiring new broadband networks to provide a low-cost option. All of these ideas came directly from the BRIDGE Act, and now we have to pass them into law.

[Michael Bennet represents Colorado in the US Senate.]