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Governor Tony Evers thanks task force, cites broadband gains and funding
Summary
At the final meeting of the Governor's Task Force on Broadband Access, Gov. Tony Evers and the chair praised multi-year progress, highlighted federal and state grant dollars, and urged continued focus on closing remaining access and affordability gaps.
Governor Tony Evers addressed the Governor's Task Force on Broadband Access during its final scheduled meeting, thanking members and staff for years of work to expand high-speed Internet across Wisconsin. "Access to affordable high speed Internet is critical to nearly everything we do," he said, citing education, health care and remote work as examples.
Evers noted the task force's role in statewide gains and cited specific figures: "more than 410,000 Wisconsin homes and businesses will have access to new or improved high speed Internet," and the administration secured federal BEED funding of $697,000,000, which the governor said will connect about 175,000 households and businesses lacking high-speed access. He also noted a new state broadband expansion program with $60,000,000 available to reach roughly 31,000 remaining locations.
Chris Herzong, task force chair, echoed the governor's praise and framed the meeting as a transition: "Our charge may end today, but the data, the partnerships, and the road map we built do not end with it," he said. Herzong thanked members, providers and the broadband office for their multi-year collaboration and closed the meeting by urging continued engagement from members and stakeholders.
The meeting concluded with no formal votes; members were encouraged to maintain partnerships and connections formed during the task force's work.
