State budget includes $50 million for broadband deployment

Virginia’s recently passed law to speed broadband deployment to rural areas now has a financial component. Gov Glenn Youngkin’s (R-VA) signature on the General Assembly’s budget bill will move $50 million over two years from the general fund to the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative, or VATI. The new law, SB 713, is set to go into effect July 1. It addresses disputes among certain internet service providers and a few electric cooperatives regarding the make-ready process, which prepares utility poles for new broadband cable attachments, and the cost obligation for the poles themselves. The state has until Dec 31, 2026, to spend about $750 million in federal pandemic relief funds or risk having the government take back the leftover money that targeted broadband deployment for rural areas. The budget bill for the 2024-2026 biennium provides $40 million in the first year and $10 million in the second year to VATI, which administers the broadband process via the Department of Housing and Community Development.