HomeMy WebLinkAboutFunding for Middle-Mile Broadband 2024-25 Budget - City of SLO SUPPORT
May 6, 2024
The Honorable Mike McGuire, President Pro
Tempore 1021 O Street, Suite 8518
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Robert Rivas, Speaker of the Assembly
State Capitol, Suite 8330
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Scott Weiner
Chair of the Senate Budget Committee
1021 O Street, Suite 8620
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Jesse Gabriel
Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee
1021 O Street, Suite 8230
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Steve Padilla
Chair of Senate Sub-Committee #4 on State Administration
1021 O Street, Suite 6640
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Sharon Quirk-Silva
Chair of the Assembly Sub-Committee #5 on State Administration
1021 O Street, Suite 4210
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Support for Funding for the Middle-Mile Broadband Network in the 2024-25 Budget
Dear Legislative Leaders:
The City of San Luis Obispo supports the additional $1.5 billion designated for the completion of the
California Department of Technology’s statewide open-access Middle -Mile Broadband Initiative (MMBI)
included in Governor Newsom’s 2024-25 budget proposal. This network is critically necessary to
effectuate the Governor’s stated goal of expanding access to high -speed broadband for all Californians
and closing the digital divide across the state.
The middle -mile network is the backbone of the internet that, once fully constructed, will provide more
than 10,000 miles of high -capacity fiber lines to carry large amounts of data at high speeds across
California especially to those communities with 2 million unserved and underserved Californians whether
urban, rural, or tribal. Internet service providers will connect to the middle mile to bring the internet to
homes, businesses, and community institutions in the “last mile.”
We emphatically commend Governor Newsom and the legislative leadership for this nationally leading
innovative and transformative approach to delivering access to broadband and creating an environment
conducive to generating more affordable high-quality internet service statewide.
If the entire middle -mile network is not completed, the system will not be accessible to all unserved and
underserved Californians, will not provide the required resiliency needed for reliable broadband enabling
services and will not fully achieve its policy and economic development goals for all Californians.
Additionally, failure to complete the middle -mile network will result in the State not fully leveraging the
economic development and quality of life improvements targeted with the $1.4 billion already invested
by the state in the system and the $2.5 billion invested to date by the federal government.
To reject or even delay the additional funding would effectively foreclose the chance of building out the
remaining portion of the network. Funding from the federal government underwrites more than half the
cost – and additional federal funds will be lost if the remaining miles are not under contract by the end of
2024 and built by the end of 2026.
The middle -mile infrastructure project is a once -in -a-generation economic development opportunity.
Remote work, distance learning, telehealth, and emergency services, to name a few benefits, generate
jobs, spur economic activity, and safeguard physical security.
Most importantly, middle -mile broadband will help improve digital equity for Californians in unserved and
underserved communities, where they have been deprived of the same opportunities afforded to fellow
California citizens by high -speed broadband.
The economic return on investment will include higher employment, accelerated economic development,
higher tax revenue to state and local governments and the benefits from reducing the environmental
impact associated with commuting to and from work by improving Work-From-Home options.
For these reasons, we strongly support the additional funding in the Governor’s budget to complete the
full 10,000 middle -mile broadband network and we urge the budget committees in both houses to
approve the augmentation.
Sincerely,
Erica A. Stewart
Mayor
City of San Luis Obispo
cc: The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Mr. Joe Stepenshaw, Department of Finance, Director
Ms. Gayle Miller, Department of Finance, Chief Deputy Director for Policy
Ms. Teresa Calvert, Department of Finance, Program Budget Manager
Senator John Laird
Assembly Member Dawn Addis
Senator Monique Limón