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Michigan Medicaid patients need only Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's signature to be able to pay the same rates for telehealth as they do for in-person doctor's visits. HB 4580, sponsored by Rep. Felicia Brabec, D-Pittsfield, has already passed the Senate and House.

Technical assistance for broadband expansion in Alabama is the focus of a series of meetings in the state. The Alabama Community Broadband Technical Assistance program kicked off recently and will be offered in each of the state’s 67 counties. The program works to provide technical assistance to municipalities and other public stakeholders in the state who are working to ensure broadband is accessible to everyone.

Now that the federal government included billions of tax dollars in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to improve internet access to more areas, the task of broadband mapping in Illinois is underway.

New Hampshire is diverting millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief funds to expand broadband internet coverage to rural and underserved communities. A proposal approved by the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee on July 22 authorizes the state to spend $51.3 million to create the Broadband Connect Program. This initiative will provide taxpayer-funded incentives to internet service providers to expand infrastructure in communities that lack access to high-speed broadband service. The plan will require internet providers to bid on the contract, and Gov.

Gov. Charlie Baker (R-MA) announced that $13 million in Community Compact Grants will support 86 entities within the Municipal Fiber grant program. The funds are to be used to construct or complete municipal fiber networks to create efficient management of information technology infrastructure while creating opportunities to progress economies of scale through bandwidth purchases and other security programs. Lt. Gov.

A disagreement over who should get free access to high speed internet in some parts of Wisconsin likely means no one is getting a new connection anytime soon. Gov Tony Evers (D-WI) last week vetoed SB 365, which would have expanded high speed internet service in rural parts of the state. The governor said expanding broadband access is one of his top priorities, but scuttled the plan because he doesn’t like how Republican lawmakers were going about it.

Indiana granted an additional $189 million on a third round of projects to extend broadband service to rural areas of the state. The money will fund 154 projects to provide broadband infrastructure to more than 52,900 homes and commercial locations in 80 counties. The funding comes as part of the Next Level Broadband Grant Program, which is billed as the largest single state investment in broadband. Two previous rounds of funding awarded $268 million for broadband infrastructure for more than 74,800 homes and commercial locations. The program began in 2018.

Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law a bill that creates a grant program that government and business groups said is critical to economic development. House Bill 2 creates the state’s first Residential Broadband Expansion Program with grants to offset construction and costs to facilitate expansion of high-speed internet. The plan would be to attack the last mile of connectivity to households. That’s where sponsor Rep. Rick Carfagna (R-Genoa Township) said connection remains cost-prohibitive to providers to extend service.