Branstad says he hopes broadband funding for Iowa reinstated

DES MOINES - The state's plan to foster the expansion of broadband Internet access throughout rural Iowa survived last week's legislative deadline, and that pleases Gov. Terry Branstad, who has made the effort a top priority.

The governor said he also believes a state-funded $5 million grant program that was stripped out of the proposal can and should be reinserted in the plan.

Committees in the Iowa House and Senate passed tweaked versions of the governor's broadband expansion plan last week. The proposals keep the structure for a grant program, but they remove the $5 million allocation that would give private businesses the incentive to expand their broadband Internet reach.

In its place, the proposal includes a provision that would allow the state to use any federal or state grant funds in conjunction with private investment.

Branstad said the $5 million should be added back into the grant program when state lawmakers plan the state budget.

'(The grant funding) is something that we think would help expedite the expansion of broadband coverage to underserved areas of the state,” Branstad said during his weekly meeting Monday with Statehouse reporters. 'We're going to try to get as much accomplished as possible.”

Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, said he did not feel the $5 million was sufficient to support the grant program. He pointed to Minnesota, which has allocated nearly $20 million to a similar broadband expansion grant program.

'The governor is going to have to make a compelling argument why he wants (the $5 million) in there,” Sodders said. He noted that Branstad's fellow Republicans, who control the House, removed the funding, 'so there's a reason they took it out.”

The question is whether removing funding from the proposal weakens its potential impact on fostering broadband expansion.

'Certainly,” Sodders said. 'But again, we know this wasn't going to be a one-year deal anyhow. … This is going to take a couple years. Funding is always a part of it. Just right now, the budget's tight. If that loosens up at some point in the future, I could see trying to get additional state dollars in there to help pull down federal dollars and private dollars.”

The Iowa proposal also extends a property tax break for broadband projects.

'We're still hopeful to do something very significant,” Branstad said. 'I want to make sure we have (broadband Internet available) all over the state and as quickly as we can to connect every acre.”

Besides the broadband issue, Branstad said he was pleased the split-control Legislature took early action to address transportation funding needs, adding that he remains hopeful other legislative priorities, such as anti-bullying measures for schools and expanded protections for domestic abuse victims, will see action this session.

The governor said he and lawmakers face a challenging state budget that could get even more so if the state Revenue Estimating Conference pares back its projections for the current and 2016 fiscal year as he expects the panel to do at its March 19 meeting.

Branstad noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has projected farm income - an area that has bolstered state revenue growth in the past - will be down 32 percent in fiscal 2015. He defended his education funding proposal as 'thoughtful and realistic,” but said the fiscal 2016 state aid allotment for schools is now in the hands of a House-Senate conference committee to resolve.

'We have to make the tough decisions,” he told reporters. 'I think it's critically important that the Legislature recognize the reality of the financial circumstances we're facing and have a budget that's going to be sustainable for the long term.”

Reporter Rod Boshart contributed to this article.