Expanded broadband connectivity in Iowa will get a boost from a bill awaiting Governor Kim Reynolds’ signature, but questions remain on how much funding will be made available to support the effort.

The senate this week unanimously approved House File 848 that would set up a system of grants for broadband providers in an attempt to boost internet access in rural parts of the state. The Governor has asked for $150 million for each of the next three years while House Republicans are planning for $100 million per year. District 78 State Representative Jarad Klein (R) of Keota says the final number will be determined during the budget process, “We already had a pretty good idea of where we’re targeting our dollars for those different grants. So the policy lays out three different tiers for the ability to get broadband funding with the goal to be to ‘get the last mile.’ The last mile is always the most expensive, but it’s always the rural districts like ours that need it the most. So we’ve(?) tiered the funding and now we’ll work on appropriating here as we move into the budget process.”

Reynolds has stated about a third of Iowa’s 99 counties still are broadband deserts where high-speed internet is rarely offered and, for many Iowans, unaffordable. The new  legislation calls for at least 20% of the grants to be awarded to projects in difficult-to-serve areas where no service provider offers broadband services with download speeds of less than or equal to 25 megabits per second.

In recent months, Kalona Cooperative Technology Company (KCTC) received Empower Rural Iowa broadband grants via CARES Act funding totalling almost $2 million. KCTC General Manager Casey Peck says it will cover about 35% of the cost for a 5-year project to connect over 300 households to a future-proof fiber network.