ALBANY — As Gov. Kathy Hochul was busy negotiating a new budget deal with the state Legislature on Wednesday at the state Capitol, she received some good news: The Biden administration has awarded New York $100 million to increase broadband internet access for low-income residents and those living in affordable housing.
The news was announced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, along with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, as well as Hochul, who took a few minutes away from budget talks to appear on a Zoom call with reporters.
The money is coming from federal funding already approved under the 2021 American Rescue Plan that was passed to help the U.S. save jobs and improve lives in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schumer said he compares getting affordable internet access to everyone in the country to the creation of the Rural Electrification Administration to bring electricity to farms across the country under the New Deal.
“This has been a goal and dream of mine for a very long time,” Schumer said during the Zoom call. “The same thing (as electrification) applies to the internet — that is essential as well … this is what government is all about. This is needed stuff that liberals, moderates and conservatives support.”
The money is coming from the U.S. Treasury Department and will be given out to organizations that submit grant proposals, such as low-income housing operators. Officials with the Biden administration who were on the call said the money would go to pay for, or subsidize, affordable internet service in individual apartments.
In some cases, access in low-income apartment buildings in the Capital Region is only available in common areas, making it difficult for students and adults to do work or their homework.
“That’s not the way to educate our kids,” Gillibrand said during the call.
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