There's an effort to make changes to a federal program to provide broadband to the more than 1.5 million Ohioans who still lack access to reliable internet. Some lawmakers and union members are urging the state to stick with a plan that provides dedicated internet to rural areas that lack it currently.
Rep. Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) said $800 million is available through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program (BEAD).
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build the infrastructure that will connect the unconnected, lower costs for families, and create good-paying union jobs right here in Ohio," McNally said.
The Trump administration said it is reviewing the BEAD program to cut what it calls unnecessary regulations and to ensure it's "technology neutral." That would open the door to satellites like Elon Musk's Starlink. McNally said state leaders should ask questions before making rash changes.
“How do we make the most of this investment? Do we focus on reaching the 15% of Ohioans who are still offline? Do we build the most reliable and future-ready infrastructure? Do we prioritize the areas with the greatest need, not just the greatest population?” McNally said. “I believe we can and must do all of the above. But it will require coordination, transparency and a true commitment of equity, starting with how we prioritize and deploy these funds.”
Frank Mathews, the administrative director of the Communications Workers of America, said the Trump administration and Republicans are complaining that this process has taken too long. But he said there's a reason why.
"The reason it has taken this amount of time is that based on Republican input in the bipartisan infrastructure bill that started all this, the Republicans on that committee wanted a couple things. They wanted nationwide mapping, and they wanted the states to run the program in individual states. Those are the two items that have taken the lion's share of the time," Mathews said.
Mathews said mapping has been done to determine where unserved and underserved Ohioans live, which he said is fiscally responsible to ensure tax dollars are being spent wisely. He used a football analogy to explain what he thinks is happening.
"We're in a football game. It's been a long game because of the rules we've had to go through. We're in the fourth quarter," Mathews said. "We're getting ready to score a touchdown with fiber, and there's a new official on the field throwing a bunch of rules at us that are not only geared to slow us down, but also to geared geared to give an advantage to an inferior athlete or product, whatever you want."
The Communications Workers of America has been collecting petitions to urge Gov. Mike DeWine to refrain from changing how Ohio handles federal broadband dollars. Union leaders presented those petitions to DeWine Tuesday.
