President Biden Touts Broadband Expansion Efforts in Wisconsin Visit
Broadband was part of the reelection campaign's emphasis on infrastructure.
January 25, 2024 – President Biden highlighted the administration’s investment in broadband expansion at a campaign stop in Wisconsin on Thursday.
“High-speed internet is essential to today’s economy. It’s as essential as electricity was when Franklin Roosevelt was president,” he said.
The messaging is part of the Biden reelection campaign’s focus on infrastructure. Biden called attention to the 2021 Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, which funds the $42.5-billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, and announced nearly $5 billion in new non-broadband infrastructure projects.
Biden touted Wisconsin and neighboring Minnesota’s BEAD allocations. The states collectively received $2.5 billion under the program to expand broadband infrastructure and adoption.
He also called attention to the Affordable Connectivity Program, which he said had more than 600,000 households enrolled between the two states. The fund, also stood up by the IIJA, provides a $30 monthly discount to low-income households but is slated to run out of money in April.
“Those $30 extra at the end of the month – bills all add up when you’re living on a fixed income,” Biden said.
The president asked Congress in October for $6 billion to shore up the fund, and bipartisan lawmakers introduced a bill to extend it with $7 billion. The program has faced Republican pushback, though, as House members look to slash spending.
