PORT ANGELES — State and federal lawmakers are working to close the broadband gap that exists in such rural areas as the West End of the North Olympic Peninsula, a team of experts heard last week.
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, introduced a bill in July that would provide a refundable tax credit to groups of individuals or businesses who extend a local broadband network, Kilmer spokeswoman Mary Jane Robins told the Broadband Action Team in a Friday meeting in Port Angeles.
The bipartisan legislation — Broadband Access for All Act — is under consideration of the House Ways and Means Committee, Kilmer spokesman Tim Biba said in a Friday email.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D- Mountlake Terrace, also had a representative at the meeting. She and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Seattle, successfully introduced an amendment in August that cleared the way for rural communities across the state to compete for broadband service grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, and his colleagues from the 24th Legislative District are committed to securing a “significant amount of money” for rural broadband in the 2019 legislative session, Chapman told about two dozen attendees at Elwha Klallam Heritage Center.
The 24th District covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
Kilmer’s broadband bill — co-sponsored by Elise Stefanik, R-New York — would provide a tax credit of up to 75 percent for those who form a limited broadband district and invest in broadband infrastructure.
The goal of HR 6442 is to close the “last-mile” gap between rural homes and businesses and the existing broadband service network, Kilmer has said.
“He has advocated for some time for better access to broadband in rural parts of the country,” Robins said in a panel discussion on broadband policy.
“With a background in economic development, and with parents who were educators, he certainly can see the need for those services on many fronts.”
Kilmer is a Port Angeles native whose parents taught in the Port Angeles School District.
Kilmer represents the 6th Congressional District, which covers the Olympic and Kitsap peninsula and most of Tacoma.
Broadband is classified as an internet connection with a download speed of at least 25 megabits per second, the minimum recommended for high definition streaming on Netflix.
Twenty-one percent of Clallam County’s population — and 19 percent of Jefferson County — lacks broadband, according to statistics provided by Kilmer’s office.
“If you were a mile from that broadband connection,” Robins said, “and you and a few of your neighbors wanted to band together to fund that infrastructure needed to make that connection, this [bill] would provide a tax credit for that investment.”
Chapman said job growth in occurring at a “staggering” rate along the Interstate 5 corridor and rural Washington has not kept up.
“We have capacity out here and we have seen some job growth, but rural broadband will definitely move our economy forward in ways that we haven’t seen,” Chapman said.
“We’re going to continue to make an investment in the state Legislature. We started with a kind of modest investment. There are those of us who are pushing for a much larger investment in rural broadband, connecting all of the Native American tribes.
“I represent six Native American tribes,” Chapman added, “and I want every one of them to have the same access to high-speed broadband that everybody else has in the district.”
Chapman said he and fellow state Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Port Townsend, and state Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, are “working hard” on extending broadband throughout the 24th District.
“We are really talking about a significant amount of money for rural broadband in the next legislative session as a way to really continue to move our rural jobs program forward,” Chapman said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
