Gov. Bill Lee announced Thursday the state will invest $61 million on broadband expansion in Tennessee to support distance learning, telehealth and Tennesseans working from home.
Funding for the expansion will come from federal COVID-19 relief dollars distributed through the Coronavirus Aide, Relief and Economic Security Act.
“This means that communities all across Tennessee will have more access to broadband, which means kids will have more access to online learning, folks will have more access to the ability to work from home, and we can have more access to health care through telemedicine for more Tennesseans as a result of this expansion,” Lee said Thursday during a news briefing at the state Capitol.
The $61 million allocation more than doubles the spending on broadband Lee proposed in his original fiscal year 2020-2021 budget. During his State of the State address, Lee proposed a $25 million investment in broadband expansion this year.
Before recessing in March, the Legislature approved $10 million toward broadband, but that funding was eliminated during dramatic budget cuts in June.
The Tennessee Legislature passed the Broadband Accessibility Act in 2017, providing $45 million spread across the state’s 95 counties over three years.
Earlier this year, Tennessee was recognized by a Pew Charitable Trusts study as a national leader for policies on broadband expansion.
Lee said the state will execute the expansion through public-private partnerships over the next few months.
“There are parts of our state where broadband is not readily available,” Lee said. “We’ve worked very hard over the last couple of years to expand that broadband service across our state.”
