Dan Sparks

State Senator, District 27

One of the major priorities for my colleagues and me this year is aiding the expansion and upgrades of Minnesota’s broadband infrastructure. Access to reliable, high-speed Internet remains a challenge for large parts of Greater Minnesota. Right now, 20 percent of rural communities currently lack access to sufficient Internet speeds. This challenge can be a major obstacle to many of our communities to unlocking their full potential.

The applications of high-speed broadband Internet are vast; small businesses can be more effective and efficient, schools can provide more programs and opportunities for their students, and hospitals can take advantage of telemedicine to expand care and lower costs. But, we must also have comparable access to our homes in order to take advantage of these opportunities. Broadband legislation provides an opportunity for the legislature to work together to help hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans across the state.

This week we heard two bills in the Jobs, Ag, and Rural Development Committee that would increase the availability of broadband. We heard compelling testimony on both proposals and heard how our $30.6 million investment in “The Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program” over the last two years, has leveraged over $41 million in private investment.

In recent meetings with city leaders and businesses from our district, broadband access, improved speeds, and reliability were cited as issue of importance. Austin’s City Administrator, Craig Clark, testified at the committee hearing about broadband’s role in community and economic development. The two bills, which increased the speed goals for Internet service and funding for the grant program, were passed unanimously by the committee.

As we continue to work to increase the support for broadband investment, we must also update our regulatory environment to better serve technological advances. Right now, many of our regulations and requirements fail to match the needs of today. If we are to truly harness this potential, we must make sure we are also updating our laws accordingly. I am carrying several bills to accomplish these goals, and hope we can get this done in 2016.

Another issue that has been a major topic here at the Capitol is Unemployment Insurance. One is a benefits extensions for the thousands of people affected by mining slowdowns and closings on the Iron Range. The area has been hard hit economic factors and this bill will help families get through this difficult time.

The other proposal is a UI tax credit for employers. Due to positive employment numbers and strong economic activity in the state, our fund has been doing well.  This is allowing us, for the second time in recent years, to give some relief to business owners and help our local economies.

Thankfully, the House passed both of the bills the Senate sent over Thursday. I look forward to Governor Dayton signing these bills before the weekend.

The policy in each of these bills have bipartisan support, and I hope we can continue to find common ground for Minnesota going forward in the session.

If you have questions or concerns about legislation and the session, I encourage you to contact my office at 651-296-9248 or at sen.dan.sparks@senate.mn.