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Senate finance panel advances SB152 to expand broadband affordability program
Summary
The Senate Finance Committee advanced a committee substitute for SB152, preserving repair and expansion funds and creating a state-run low-income broadband assistance program that could grow from $10 million to up to $45 million in later years; the committee recorded a due-pass on the substitute.
The Senate Finance Committee advanced a committee substitute for SB152, a bill to sustain broadband repair and expansion funding and to create a state low-income telecommunications assistance program intended to replace lost federal benefits. Sponsor Senator Michael Padilla told the panel New Mexico has won “a $382,000,000 federal grant coming into New Mexico” and described the substitute as removing a sunset and leaving $18 million a year for repair and maintenance and $12.5 million a year for expansion while enabling the affordability fund to increase from $10 million to as much as $45 million in subsequent years.
Why it matters: Committee supporters said the program addresses affordability —…
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