Department of Treasury

Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) announced over $234 million in 29 preliminary grant awards for broadband internet expansion through the Capital Projects Fund Grant Program. These awards will improve connectivity for communities, households, businesses, and anchor institutions in 28 Georgia counties.

On Thursday, December 29, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (H.R. 2617). Most importantly, the government funding package, which includes all 12 fiscal year 2023 appropriations bills, keeps the federal government running through September 30, 2023.

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.

A Montana state commission advanced grant recommendations for a massive, $309 million rural broadband connectivity push, moving a previously delayed grantmaking process forward despite concerns voiced by Montana-based internet companies about the amount — approximately $110 million — slated for Charter Communications. The money fueling the program comes from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

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.

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.

In May 2021, the Florida Legislature passed the Florida Broadband Deployment Act of 2021, codifying the Florida Office of Broadband, which had been created in the previous year within the state's Department of Economic Opportunity.