Governor Abbott held a press conference on March 29th with House Speaker Dade Phelan, Rep. Trent Ashby, and Hamshire-Fannett ISD Superintendent Dwaine Augustine to discuss the statewide broadband bills currently in the House and the Senate.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
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Dwaine Augustine, Superintendent Hamshire-Fannett ISD
- Pandemic has highlighted the need for broadband connectivity; is the first steps to connect rural Texas to broadband
Governor Greg Abbott
- Broadband is essential for all Texans; 900,000 Texans do not have access to broadband service
- State has started on this with Operation Connectivity and the Governor’s Broadband Development Council; working to put those recommendations into place
- Ashby’s bill establishes a state broadband office; will implement a broadband plan to reduce barriers and financial burdens
- Thanks Sen. Nichols for his related bill in the Senate
Speaker Dade Phelan
- Thanks the Governor for making this an emergency item; building broad support for broadband has been difficult
- Bill is out of committee and will be on the House Floor soon
- Need to bridge the divide in rural and urban Texas; are federal dollars and
- HB 2000 and HJR 2 will be discussed and will fund weatherization of utility, generation and transmission and broadband; is a $2 billion ask from the ESF through the SURF fund
- HJR 2 will be voted on in November
- Could spend other funds on broadband as well
Representative Trent Ashby
- Broadband access is at the top of the legislature’s priority list
- HB 5, no matter what zip code, is going to move Texas into the 21st century
- Connectivity and access are no longer a luxury; have moved SB 5 and HB 5 to recognize the state needs a broadband office
- HB 5 calls upon that office within 12 months of enactment to roll out a statewide plan
- Mapping is a critical component of this bill to drill down past the Census Block to the household level
- Believes funding between the federal partnership and through the state will be sufficient for this plan
- Has strong bipartisan support
Q: What does this bill do for those communities who have their own broadband plans?
- Abbott – This cannot be done without state collaboration between the state and local level
- Ashby – Bill prioritizes COGs that bring forward regional plans that will have priority funding status
- Phelan – Like the SWIFT, this is this same concept; sees a seamless transition for that
Q: Why is this happening now, and how soon can we see the rollout?
- Abbott – We saw this was an issue before the pandemic, but the pandemic exacerbated it; on the healthcare side, could provide ICU services to those in the panhandle
- Phelan – HB 4, telehealth related, will be in committee this week, and expects it to be on the floor after Easter
Q: Does this come down to encouraging providers to expand their own infrastructure?
- Abbott – Yes
- Ashby – Yes, will need to work with them in order to determine what type of broadband will work best for the region
- Ashby – Between state and RDOF funds, they help incentivize build outs
Q: How have the conversations gone in terms of taking money out of the Rainy-Day Fund?
- Phelan – Funding is similar to SWIFT; Comptroller will tell you there is a cap on the Rainy-Day Fund, but experts say that about $7 billion needs to stay in the fund
- Phelan – Are currently $10-$11 billion in the Rainy-Day Fund; have some room to invest some of that
Q: Â Asks about the situation at the border?
- Abbott – Is a manmade “catastrophe” by the Biden administration; detention centers are over capacity, human trafficking issue, and COVID-19 exposure issue
- Abbott – Biden Administration has not responded to our concerns