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| FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | Forsythilows.con
8A
Senate unanimously passes
bill encouraging broadband
internet expansion
By Nick Bowman
FCN regional staft
After months talking up
the importance of rural
broadband infrastructure,
the Georgia Senate has
passed a bill that aims to
bring high-speed internet
to the entire state.
Senate Bill 402 was
unanimously passed on
Friday, Feb. 23. Called
the Achieving
Community Everywhere
Act and sponsored by
Sen. Steve Gooch,
R-Dahlonega, the bill cre
ates a statewide broad
band deployment plan
that will be coordinated
by the Georgia
Technology Authority.
The bill would make a
slew of changes to state
law and regulations deal
ing with local broadband.
It would open more
state rights of way along
highways and interstates
for broadband infrastruc
ture, free up public
money for technology
grants and sets the
groundwork for public
private partnerships in
small communities
around the state, accord
ing to an announcement
from Lt. Gov. Casey
Cagle’s office on Friday.
“Thanks to this for
ward-looking broadband
infrastructure plan, our
rural families, small busi
nesses, students, and
health care providers will
compete for and win the
most rewarding and
Georgia Senate advances controversial adoption proposal
From The Associated Press
The Georgia Senate has
passed a bill that would
allow adoption agencies
receiving taxpayer fund
ing to refuse to work with
same-sex couples.
Sponsored by Sen.
William Ligon, a
Brunswick Republican,
the measure was passed
Friday by a vote of 35 to
19 after about an hour of
contcntious debate.
Ligon said the bill is
needed to ensure that
faith-based organizations
are not kept out of civic
life.
But opponents of the
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advanced opportunities in
the world,” Cagle said in
the announcement.
The bill defines high
speed internet as a con
nection with a 25 mbps
download speed and a 3
mbps upload speed —
about the connection a
home would need for
online streaming for mul
tiple devices. It also
allows municipalities to
apply to be “broadband
ready communities” to be
eligible for greater state
support.
It also requires all state
governments to include
broadband infrastructure
expansion routes in their
comprehensive plans and
creates a tax break for
broadband infrastructure
equipment in certain
counties.
The Georgia
Technology Authority
would also be required to
publish an annual report
on the state of rural
broadband growth in
Georgia.
Rural broadband has
been an issue in Gooch’s
district in Lumpkin
County for years. The
county has received more
than $280,000 from the
Federal Communications
Commission through its
Connect America Fund
— a nationwide program
intended to help finance
rural broadband infra
structure expansion in tar
geted areas. '
In Lumpkin County,
there were 1,184 loca
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T R T
David Bames FCN regional staff
Outside of the Georgia State Capitol.in Atlanta,
onThursday, Jan. 4.
measure say it would
effectively allow state
sanctioned discrimination
by adoption agencies.
The core of the bill
tions eligible for CAF
financed development.
Each location represents
an individual home or
business.
“As someone who lives
in a rural area, 1 was
proud to partner with Lt.
Governor Cagle to deliver
this much needed broad
band infrastructure
package,”Gooch said in
the Friday announcement.
“Hospitals, schools, and
local businesses anchor
our rural communities,
and the ACE Act will
ensure our institutions
and citizens have a sus
tainable future filled with
opportunity and a higher
quality of life.”
This month, the FCC
announced another round
for cash available through
the Connect America
Fund that launches in late
July. Nationwide, about
$2 billion will be avail
able for bids from inter
ested companies.
Almost 18,000 proper
ties are eligible for finan
cial support from the
fund. Most of the cash
awarded through the pro
gram in Northeast
Georgia goes to
Windstream, though
AT&T and other large
internet providers also
receive funding in other
areas of the state.
“Connecting the uncon
nected in rural America is
my top priority,” FCC
Chairman Ajit Pai said in
a news release. “I'm
excited that our CAF auc
would give legal protec
tion to faith-based adop
tion agencies that decline
to place a child with peo
ple whose lifestyle they
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FCN regional staff
tion will provide opportu
nities for innovative com
panies and cooperatives
to bridge the digital
divide for the Georgia
consumers and small
businesses that lack high
speed access today.”
The fund has handed
out more than $9 billion
since 2011.
do not agree with, includ
ing single parents, unwed
couples and LGBT cou
ples.
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