Capital Projects Fund

When it comes to affordable broadband, Vermont has always been a trailblazer.

The US Department of the Treasury announced the approval of broadband projects in three additional states under the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF): Illinois, Indiana, and North Carolina. Together, these states will use their funding to connect over 170,000 homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet.

New Mexico relies on broadband to connect its extensive rural areas and important rural industries. Quality broadband connections allow the oil and gas industry to operate more safely and efficiently than ever before, and enhanced broadband can enable cost-saving measures without compromising safety. Similarly, large ranches and farms require broadband for high-end uses such as precision agriculture applications and robotic harvesters.

In 2012, Governor John Hickenlooper (D-CO) charged the Colorado Office of Information Technology (OIT) with overseeing and coordinating broadband activity across state agencies. In 2016, OIT created the Colorado Broadband Office.

The Utah Broadband Center and Access Act—enacted July 1, 2021—created the state's broadband office to 1) ensure that publicly funded broadband projects continue to be publicly accessible and provide a public benefit, 2) develop the statewide digital connectivity plan, and 3) administer the Broadband Access Grant Program.

Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) has officially signed West Virginia’s Line Extension Advancement and Development (LEAD) program grants for Comcast to begin construction activities to connect more than 2,100 unserved homes and businesses across the state.

Minnesota’s Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program is the state's financial tool to address the primary cause for the lack of broadband in unserved areas: high costs and lower population densities resulted in unsustainable business plans and thus broadband installations are not feasible.

Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) said that internet providers will receive nearly $100 million to expand broadband coverage to more Minnesotans, representing the largest single investment in broadband infrastructure in state history. In total, 61 broadband expansion projects around Minnesota will receive $99.6 million in grants from the Border-to-Border Broadband program administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)'s Office of Broadband Development.

The US Department of the Treasury approved broadband projects in two additional states under the American Rescue Plan Act's (ARPA) Capital Projects Fund (CPF): Colorado and New Mexico. Together, these states will use their funding to connect nearly 60,000 homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet.

Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), joined by Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Drew Ferguson (R-GA), authored and introduced H.R. 9449, The Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act, bipartisan legislation to amend the Internal Revenue Code to ensure that funding directed for the implementation of broadband from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will not be considered taxable income. This bill was introduced in the Senate by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) and joined by Sens.