SF 4511

as introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 04/09/2024 09:48am

A resolution
memorializing the President and the United States Congress to extend funding for the
Affordable Connectivity Program of 2021, which provides our citizens with access to
broadband services.

WHEREAS, access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband service is essential to full
participation in modern life in Minnesota and throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, that the persistent "digital divide" in this State and in the United States is a
barrier to the economic competitiveness in the economic distribution of essential public services,
including health care and education; and

WHEREAS, in 2021, as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's historic
investment in broadband infrastructure and digital equity, Congress appropriated more than fourteen
billion dollars for the Affordable Connectivity Program; and

WHEREAS, based on the current expenditure rates, all of the appropriated funding for the
Affordable Connectivity Program could be exhausted in early 2024; and

WHEREAS, the Affordable Connectivity Program has been a tremendous success, with
almost 241,000 Minnesota households enrolled in the program and 23,000,000 households enrolled
nationally; and

WHEREAS, the Affordable Connectivity Program has been a critical tool in helping bridge
the digital divide that exists between those who have access to modern information and
communications technology and those who do not; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges and requests
each member of the Minnesota congressional delegation to support continued funding of the
Affordable Connectivity Program so that low-income Minnesota households can continue to receive
the support they need to participate in the digital marketplace.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed
to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, the
presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United
States of America, and to each member of the Minnesota congressional delegation.