Does extending broadband access to the last unserved 5 percent of Vermonters really stimulate economic development?” one Vermont senator asked.
“Why should the state provide money to make that happen?” asked another senator.
Two good questions at a time when Vermont is struggling to close a $153 million budget gap and will have to stop doing some of the things it has traditionally done. Should we really be doing something new?
It was my job to answer these questions since I was testifying before a Senate committee in support of Governor Douglas' proposal to use $3.17 million of federal stimulus money for a program called Backroads Broadband.