The first month of the legislative session has flown by, with preparing bills for introduction, passing the Budget Adjustment Act for our current fiscal year through the House, and adjusting to a new committee, all while operating remotely via Zoom.
I asked to switch to the House Energy and Technology Committee this legislative session in order to build on the work I and others have done locally to expand broadband coverage in Lamoille County and bring an element of local control to our community's telecommunications infrastructure.
Last spring, I worked with colleagues to ensure the passage of a bill that allowed Communications Union Districts to form via a selectboard vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than requiring the town to gather for a special town meeting. Communications Union Districts are municipal entities similar to water districts or fire districts that form when two or more towns come together to build telecommunications infrastructure.
As a result of the bill from last spring, the number of districts in the state nearly doubled. There are now nine in the state, representing the vast majority of rural towns with inadequate or incomplete broadband internet coverage.
One of the new communications districts to form was Lamoille FiberNet, which now consists of the towns of Cambridge, Waterville, Belvidere, Eden, Hyde Park, Johnson, Morristown and Stowe.
As my committee begins our work on broadband legislation this year, the landscape is very different than last legislative session. Not only has the pandemic brought an increased awareness of the importance of broadband infrastructure investments, but the growth of new districts has made it possible to invest statewide money for broadband through these entities.
The importance of investing public funds into these organizations is that they are locally run, are transparent, follow open meeting laws, are not-for-profit, and are committed to serving every dwelling in their member towns, not just the ones that are easiest to get to. So far, private internet companies have failed at meeting this standard of universal, high-quality service in rural areas.
The state’s goal is for every address to be served with fiber-to-the-premise service by 2024. This goal can seem overwhelmingly ambitious, but nonetheless it is an important guiding star to remind us of the urgency and massive scale of the connectivity projects facing our state.
Before I close, I would like to provide a quick reminder that despite all the challenges of governing remotely, it does also offer increased access to government for those who could not otherwise be present in Montpelier or are busy during normal business hours. All committee and full-House Zoom meetings are live-streamed to YouTube, and can be watched in real time or after the fact.
If you are in need of an outdoor break this Sunday, Feb. 7, from 10-11 a.m., join Sen.Westman and me for a snowshoe or XC ski, leaving from the Brewster Uplands Parking Lot on West Farm Road in Jeff. Wear a mask!
Lucy Rogers, a Democrat from Waterville, also represents Cambridge in the Vermont House of Representatives.
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