Governors Largely Silent on Broadband in State of State Addresses

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2025 – As governors around the country took the podium in recent weeks to outline their visions for the year ahead, their annual state addresses touched on familiar priorities – education, public safety, and economic growth.

But an issue that could shape the future of millions of Americans received little attention: Broadband access and affordability.

Broadband Breakfast reviewed 38 State of the State speeches, seven inaugural addresses, and one governor’s budget proposal (Florida) so far in 2025. Four states have not given addresses for this year (California, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Ohio). 

A small fraction of governors used their platform to address how their states plan to close the digital divide, and how it will be using its share of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. In fact, only four governors discussed plans for broadband deployment and access in a substantive way.

Governors who went into depth about broadband included Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R), and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R).

Kentucky‘s Beshear goes into detail, as did Florida’s DeSantis

Beshear went into detail about the need for high-speed broadband, and what his administration is doing to combat this issue. 

“Kentuckians also deserve access to high-speed internet. We know that the internet is no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity for education, health care and for our economy. And I’m proud to report, we have now approved projects that will connect 80,229 additional homes to high-speed internet,” Beshear said in his speech.

In his budget overview, DeSantis talked about rural broadband, and extending broadband range for public servants, including first responders

“Florida’s rural areas represent a tremendous opportunity for growth and prosperity. One of the key elements to this rural economic development is a focus on developing modern infrastructure, including broadband internet service. The Governor’s Budget demonstrates the Governor’s ongoing commitment to economic growth in rural areas…” DeSantis said. “$2.6 million for an additional 5,000 BeOn licenses to further assist law enforcement officers with connectivity by extending the range of coverage to utilize broadband, Wi-Fi, and cellular data services.”

West Virginia and Alabama

Morrisey, elected in November, hopes to work with the White House to ensure West Virginia has reliable and fast internet access. The state is receiving more than $1.2 billion in BEAD allocations.

“In today’s economy, maintaining reliable and fast connections to the Internet isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. West Virginians don’t want broadband that moves at the speed of slow,” Morrisey said. “In the upcoming months, we will work with the Trump Administration on how West Virginia should best take advantage of federal broadband dollars and drive economic growth.”

Alabama Gov. Ivey talked about the job her administration has already done with broadband projects in the state.

“Alabama is also being recognized as a national model for broadband deployment. Since taking office, we have supported over 200 expansion projects, which will allow more than 142,000 more addresses to be connected to high-speed internet.”

Several other governors used their addresses to highlight  past broadband accomplishments. Some just mentioned the topic in passing. While better than nothing, these states did not discuss a broadband policy direction for the upcoming year. These states included: Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Vermont, and Wyoming.

In total, only twelve states mentioned the words broadband or internet in their speeches, with just four giving substantive broadband detail. 

Broadband Breakfast found that 35 governors (including California’s June 2024 State of the State address) did not discuss broadband in their state addresses.

This includes important BEAD program states like Texas, which is set to receive over $3.3 billion in BEAD money and has about 780,000 unserved locations.