State Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said Friday he expects state legislators will make a significant investment in expanding broadband across rural Kentucky in the budget being finalized in Frankfort.
Quarles came to Owensboro on Friday to discuss the “Ag Tag” program, which raises funds for Kentucky FFA, 4-H and the Department of Agriculture’s youth development programs. But Quarles said in a brief interview that he expects legislators will have funds for expanding rural broadband in the budget draft that will be released soon.
“One of the biggest issues in Kentucky is connectivity,” Quarles said. “I think Kentucky is falling behind.”
Quarles testified in Frankfort about broadband expansion last month during a discussion of House Bill 348. The bill, if approved, would create an Office of Broadband Innovation that would be “the sole executive branch agency responsible to apply for, receive, administer or expend federal funds for broadband deployment to residents, households and businesses in unserved and underserved areas of Kentucky,” the bill says.
Quarles testified the bill “focuses solely on last-mile deployment” of broadband to unserved residents of the state.
The bill was heard in the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee and approved in late February but was sent back to the same committee for further hearing without receiving a vote in the full House.
“The legislature is not done yet” with this year’s session, Quarles said. “There’s still a chance” the bill could be approved, he said.
Quarles said expanding broadband service is “the same thing our parents and grandparents did” when the country expanded utility services into rural areas.
House Bill 320, which passed the House, proposed spending $250 million on rural broadband development. That language is expected to be in the draft state budget, but that issue will have to be negotiated between the House and Senate.
Quarles suggested that Gov. Andy Beshear has neglected “last mile” broadband expansion.
“The fact that the Governor did not invest CARES Act money into last mile broadband is telling,” Quarles said.
While Beshear’s office did put $8 million in CARES dollars into broadband expansion last year, his office did not allocate any CARES funds into the state’s “last mile development fund,” a Department of Agriculture official said.
Quarles spent much of his Owensboro visit with local FFA students, discussing the “Ag Tag” program. Farmers renewing license plates for their agricultural vehicles can make a voluntary donation, with the proceeds being split between FFA, 4-H and KDA’s youth development programs.
People not in agriculture can also donate to the program. Last year, $612,000 was raised through the “Ag Tag” program for students.
Half of the funds a county raises stays in the county, Quarles said.
Programs like 4-H and FFA help educated future leaders and workers in agriculture, he said.
“We are so fortunate that last year, despite a global pandemic, Kentucky’s farmers donated $612,000” to the program, Quarles said. “We think the Ag Tag program is one of the most successful programs in the state.”
James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse
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