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Rep. Louis Riggs urges federal broadband funds be kept for Missouri
Summary
Rep. Louis Riggs presented House Concurrent Resolution 38, arguing Missouri received $1.7 billion for broadband but that roughly $900 million remains unreleased; supporters including utilities and Farm Bureau urged federal policy not to reclaim funds.
Representative Louis Riggs told the committee House Concurrent Resolution 38 is intended to urge federal authorities to allow Missouri to retain broadband deployment funding awarded to the state. "Under this program, Missouri was awarded the third most funding in The United States and the most per person, $1,700,000,000," Riggs said, and he added that about $814 million was deployed while roughly $900 million remained "awaiting guidance" from federal officials. "They're referring to this as savings. I refer to it as theft," Riggs said.
Riggs and witnesses framed the resolution as a message to Washington, D.C., that broadband deployment funding should stay in Missouri. Mark Faganbaum of the Missouri Farm Bureau and Mike Sutherland of the Missouri Electric Cooperatives both testified in support, with Sutherland noting that electric cooperatives and their subsidiaries deploy broadband in rural areas. The committee took testimony from proponents; no organized opposition spoke and no committee vote was recorded at the hearing.
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