State Broadband Offices Weigh COVID-19 Relief Options

State broadband offices are eyeing COVID-19 relief funding, Colorado and Tennessee officials said Wednesday on a Fiber Broadband Association webinar. Money could come from Tennessee’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act allocation, and Gov. Bill Lee (R) is evaluating state needs, said Department of Economic and Community Development Broadband Director Crystal Ivey. Tennessee may use for broadband part of its allocation of funding that U.S. Housing and Urban Development received from the act, she said. The Institute of Museum and Library Services also received money and is distributing it among states, with Tennessee libraries applying for grants to pay for hot spots and videoconferencing equipment, Ivey said. Colorado is evaluating using funding from the Cares Act’s Educational Stabilization Fund, said Colorado Broadband Office Director-Federal Broadband Engagement Teresa Ferguson. Colorado may apply for some of the $1.5 billion received by the Economic Development Administration that may be used for broadband deployment, she added. The broadband office is “looking at outreach, public engagement and data collection platforms” to reassess how best to spend resources, Ferguson said. It needs more federal funding and better maps, she said. “The states can't print money. The feds can.”