Radio Report: Rep. Kevin Waters’ bill seeks to expand Washington’s rural broadband

January 11, 2024

The money needed to bring high-speed internet to everyone in Washington state would come from legislation sponsored by a Southwest Washington lawmaker. Nic Scott reports.

SCOTT: Republican Representative Kevin Waters of Stevenson has proposed giving the Community Economic Revitalization Board or CERB, the authority to issue loans and grants for broadband to rural communities.

WATERS: “CERB can do a few million dollars that they lend out –that’s a small step that maybe a small community needs. It really helps our smallest of small communities that don’t maybe see the end of the light in broadband, but now this program helps them get that.”

SCOTT: Waters’ House Bill 1982 would expand the ability for the state to assist in building broadband infrastructure to underserved communities for the purposes of economic development or community development.

WATERS: “The other thing that is not highlighted with broadband is safety. Let’s say you don’t have broadband and you need to call out. My cell phone connects to wi-fi, whereas these folks that don’t have that maybe they can’t call out because they don’t have a landline. It helps our first responders.”

SCOTT: If the bill becomes law, it would not require any new staffing or additional funding, as projects would continue to be funded from CERB’s biennial appropriation.

Nic Scott, the state Capitol.