President Biden’s infrastructure plan introduced last week, The American Jobs Plan, includes money to step up efforts surrounding rural broadband.
“Millions of Americans lack access to reliable high-speed internet including more than 35 percent of rural America.”
Biden’s plan calls for $100 billion to be spent over the next 8 years to, “Make sure every single American has access to high quality affordable high-speed internet.”
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says they’ve been putting this off for far too long.
“The president’s plan basically says, look, if we’re going to be serious about economic opportunity in all parts of the country, if we’re going to be serious about equity and making sure the persistently poor areas of the country are brought up to speed, we’re going to have to invest in broadband and we’re going to have to invest in the broadband it gives people the same advantage regardless of where they live.”
The plan calls for many other things that would impact agriculture and rural America including $174 billion in electrical vehicle investments, $115 billion for bridges and roads, $80 billion for railways, and $17 billion for waterways and ports of entry.
Vilsack calls the plan, “a once-in-a-century capital investment in America that will meet our current infrastructure needs and invests in a brighter future.”
The spending would take place over the course of eight years and would be paid for by increasing the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent.