Reed Asks, His State Receives
Ask and they shall receive? Just two weeks ago, Democratic Sen. Jack Reed questioned National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Lawrence Strickling about whether states with high unemployment such as Reed's home state of Rhode Island would get priority when the agency doles out broadband grants funded by the economic stimulus package enacted last year.
During the Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the broadband funding, Strickling indicated that one of the seven criteria the agency will use in the second round will be whether a proposed project is in an "economically depressed area." Rhode Island's unemployment rate hovered at 12.9 percent in December, the third worst in the country, according to the Providence Business Journal. The NTIA must be listening because it announced Friday that Rhode Island has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to expand broadband Internet access to 71 public libraries in the state.
"This funding comes as libraries are playing an increasingly important role in our communities by offering such assistance as help with writing resumes and searching and applying for jobs online," Reed said in a statement issued by NTIA. Strickling also noted the importance of Internet access to job seekers, adding that the broadband stimulus grant will "open up more opportunities for Rhode Islanders to participate in distance learning, online training and other online applications."
At the same hearing, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke told the subcommittee that he expects every state will receive at least one broadband grant, as stipulated by the economic stimulus package legislation. NTIA also announced Friday a $5.9 million grant to expand broadband access at South Carolina technical colleges. The grant will expand broadband capacity at 51 public computer centers and "create 19 new computer labs at the South Carolina Technical College System's 16 member colleges."
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