CPUC Clears $16 Million for Broadband; Minnesota Mulls Multiple Measures

The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to provide $5 million from the California Advanced Services Fund adoption account to public schools and school districts in response to COVID-19 (see 2004200041). The draft order was adopted Thursday as part of the consent agenda at the livestreamed meeting conducted by videoconference with dial-in public comments. CPUC members also unanimously adopted a resolution to send nearly $11 million from the CASF infrastructure fund to a middle-mile broadband project covering tribal lands in Humboldt County. Policymakers should treat broadband as a basic utility and seek to empower local government and tribal solutions, said Commissioner Martha Aceves Guzman. In Minnesota, Sen. Patricia Torres Ray (D) introduced SF-4580 to spend $8 million on distance-learning grants this fiscal year. Minnesota senators passed SF-4494 earlier this week (see 2005050008). The House version of SF-4494 is HF-3029, but the chamber also proposed HF-1507, including $15 million for education, plus the same telehealth and rural broadband funding as the other bills.