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Commerce highlights broadband buildout, IIJA/BEAD planning and workforce priorities
Summary
The Idaho Department of Commerce told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee it is deploying federal and state broadband funds, is moving through BEAD prequalification and application phases, and continues work on workforce, childcare and energy-related economic development initiatives.
The Idaho Department of Commerce briefed the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on the department’s role in broadband deployment, workforce and economic development, and presented details on state and federal broadband funds and the timeline for BEAD applications.
Brooke Dupree, a Legislative Services analyst, summarized the department’s funds and staffing. Dupree said the Idaho Broadband Fund began with a $35 million general-fund transfer and that much of those dollars have been reappropriated into recent fiscal years; the department listed additional federal and ARPA-funded grants that produced a multi-hundred-million-dollar suite of broadband resources. Institutional staffing for Commerce’s broadband office stands at six FTP, with 42 FTP in the broader commerce program.
Why it matters: the department manages and helps distribute both state and federal broadband infrastructure dollars that aim to connect unserved and underserved homes and…
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