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From YouTube: House Appropriations Subcommittee- March 1, 2021
Description
House Appropriations Subcommittee- March 1, 2021- House Hearing Room I
A
A
A
B
A
A
I've
asked
for
a
couple
of
departments
to
come
share
with
them
their
findings
and
their
the
methodology
behind
how
we
do
this
so
that
we
can
better
understand
how
these
next
dollars
the
governor
has
proposed,
can
be
well
spent
and
with
that
being
said,
I'd
like
to
call
I'd
like
to
go
out
of
session
without
objection
and
call
members
of
passer
up
for
first
they're
gonna
talk
for
about
20,
min
20
minutes
and
then
we'll
give
them
some
discussion
time.
I
have
clifford
I've
already
wrote
down.
A
Your
last
name
lost
it
now.
Oh
I'm
sorry!
Clifford
lippard
and
dr
owen:
if
you'll
come
up
forward,
we're
gonna
go
out
of
session,
you
can
bifurcate
yourselves
and
one
at
each
mic
there.
If
you
like,
you,
can
remove
your
mask
and
we've
asked
you
to
present
a
little
bit.
Tasser
has
done
a
in
2017
did
a
study.
A
C
Thank
you,
chairman
williams,
just
for
the
record,
I'm
cliff
lippert,
I'm
the
executive
director
of
the
tennessee
advisory
commission
on
intergovernmental
relations
on
behalf
of
our
chairman
representative,
mike
carter,
our
our
vice
chairman,
mayor,
kevin,
brooks
and
the
rest
of
our
members.
We
appreciate
this
opportunity
to
be
here
with
you
today
to
discuss
our
actually
our
most
recent
report,
our
january
2021
report
on
broadband
internet
adoption,
access
and
deployment
with
me
today.
I
have
our
policy
coordinator,
dr
matthew
owen.
C
Matt's
going
to
is
was
the
lead
author
of
this
report,
so
he's
going
to
do
the
yeoman's
work
on
this
so
of
our
20
minutes,
I'm
going
to
talk
for
about
two
and
he's
going
to
have
the
rest.
So
just
a
little
bit
of
quick
background
before
we
start
this
report
did
was
the
result
of
our
2017
report
in
a
way
because
that
was
the
first
time
we
took
a
hard
look
at
broadband
high-speed
broadband
internet
in
tennessee.
C
C
That
act
also
required
us
to
circle
back
around
this
year
in
january
2021,
with
our
new
report
and
kind
of
update,
where
we
are
on
with
the
deployment
of
of
broadband
as
a
result
of
the
the
2017
act,
talk
about
our
successes
and
and
remaining
challenges,
and
that's
where
matt's
going
to
take
over
he's
going
to
talk
about
the
the
findings
and
recommendations
of
that
report.
I
would
add
that
several
of
our
staff
members,
in
addition
to
to
dr
owen,
worked
on
this
study.
C
D
Thank
you
chairman.
Thank
you
members.
My
name
is
matt
owen
and
I
am
the
policy
coordinator
at
tasser.
Today,
I'm
going
to
try
to
address
two
questions
for
you.
The
first
one
has
two
parts:
how
many
tennesseans
have
access
to
broadband
and
what
is
the
rate
of
broadband
adoption
in
tennessee
and
then
for
the
second
question:
what
are
we
already
doing
to
increase
broadband
access
and
adoption?
And
after
addressing
those?
As
dr
lippert
mentioned,
I'm
going
to
go
over
the
five
recommendations
that
tasker
made
in
its
most
recent
broadband
report.
D
They
include
one
for
improved
data,
one
for
increasing
broadband
adoption
and
three
for
increasing
broadband
access.
So
first
that
first
question
how
many
tennesseans
have
access
to
broadband
and
what
is
the
rate
of
broadband
adoption
for
our
study.
We
relied
on
data
from
the
federal
communications
commission.
The
fcc
data
show
that
tennessee
continues
to
make
progress
toward
eliminating
its
remaining
coverage
gaps
and
improving
rates
of
broadband
adoption.
D
Now
I've
included
a
couple
qualifiers
in
that
sentence
and
there
are
some
important
limitations
in
the
fcc
data
that
I
want
to
circle
back
around
to
in
a
little
bit.
But
for
now,
what's
important
is
that
that
94
number
is
up
from
88
as
of
december
2015,
which
was
the
data
set.
We
used
for
our
prior
report
now.
As
for
broadband
adoption,
the
most
recent
data
that
we
had
from
the
fcc
was
from
december
of
2018.
D
D
So
both
of
these
improvements
are
positive,
but
we
know
that
there
are
still
gaps
in
access
and
adoption
that
remain
and,
in
particular,
the
urban
rural
divide
for
broadband
access
persists,
with
a
greater
percentage
of
those
living
in
urban
areas
having
access
to
broadband
compared
with
those
living
in
rural
areas
compared
with
other
states
in
the
district
of
columbia,
tennessee
continues
to
rank
near
the
middle
of
the
pack.
We
are
34th
in
34th,
overall
and
sixth
in
the
southeast
for
broadband
access
and
31st
overall
and
again,
sixth
in
the
southeast
for
broadband
adoption.
D
So
the
good
news
in
all
of
this
is
that
tennessee
is
well
placed
to
address
the
remaining
access
and
adoption
gaps
based
on
the
public
and
private
initiatives
that
it
already
has
in
place.
And
this
brings
me
to
our
second
question,
which
is
what
are
we
already
doing
to
increase
broadband
access
and
adoption?
D
And
here
I'm
going
to
flip
the
order
of
things
and
I'm
going
to
talk
about
broadband
adoption.
First,
there
is
no
single
strategy
that
we
or
other
researchers
have
identified
as
the
the
key
for
increasing
broadband
adoption.
But
what
we
have
found
is
that
strategies
that
are
tailored
to
meet
individual
needs
can
be
effective.
D
Some
of
these
strategies
include
things
like
digital
literacy,
training,
which
are
intended
to
help
individuals
become
more
comfortable
and
competent
in
using
their
devices
and
the
internet,
and
other
strategies
are
focused
on
addressing
the
cost
barriers
to
broadband
adoption.
That
includes
both
the
cost
of
service
and
the
cost
of
devices,
and
I
will
say
that
cost
continues
to
be
among
the
most
cited
reasons
why
individuals
say
they
don't
subscribe
to
home
broadband
service?
D
There
are
a
number
of
public
and
private
entities
that
are
tackling
this
issue.
For
example,
broadband
providers.
Many
of
them
already
offer
low-cost
service
options
to
qualifying
households.
Some
of
them
also
help
connect
their
customers
with
low-cost
device
options,
as
well
as
training
opportunities,
and
that's
just
one
of
the
many
examples
from
the
private
sector.
In
terms
of
the
public
sector,
we
focused
specifically
on
the
role
that
libraries
and
schools
are
playing
in
their
communities
and
helping
the
populations
that
they
serve
get
online
again.
D
This
includes
things
like
digital
literacy
training,
and
we
know
that
a
number
of
libraries
across
the
state
have
been
able
to
offer
these
courses
as
a
direct
result
of
the
funding.
That's
been
made
available
to
them
through
the
state
broadband
grant
program
that
you
all
established
in
2017
and
that
feedback
from
participants
in
these
courses
has
been
overwhelmingly
positive.
D
Additionally,
libraries
and
schools,
many
of
them
are
lending
small
or
excuse
me
mobile
wireless
hotspot
devices
to
students
or
patrons
to
help
them
access
mobile
wireless
service.
This
has
been
particularly
useful
for
those
who
either
cannot
afford
home
broadband
service
or
for
whom
wired
service
is
unavailable.
D
In
our
conversations
with
representatives
for
libraries
and
schools,
one
of
the
main
barriers
that
they
face
in
implementing
these
type
of
supports
is
often
cost.
So
again,
the
state
grant
program
has
been
particularly
beneficial
for
our
libraries
and,
of
course,
there
have
been
a
number
of
recent
efforts
to
direct
funding
to
schools
for
technology
purposes
in
light
of
the
ongoing
pandemic.
D
Community
partnerships
are
also
helpful.
We
know
that
there
are
some
districts
and
I
think
hamilton,
county
schools
is
a
good
example
of
this.
Where
they've
been
able
to
partner
with
their
local
funding
bodies
with
local
businesses
and
non-profits,
to
actually
pay
for
home
broadband
service
for
a
number
of
the
families
in
their
districts
that
are
in
need
and
don't
have
service
at
home.
D
So
that
brings
me
to
the
end
of
my
discussion
of
broadband
adoption
with
that
I'll
transition
back
to
broadband
access.
We
know
that
our
providers
continue
to
invest
in
expanding
coverage
in
tennessee,
but
the
challenging
economics
of
providing
broadband
remains
a
problem.
This
is
particularly
the
case
in
our
areas
with
low
population
densities,
where
there
are
fewer
potential
scriber
subscribers
to
cover
the
cost
of
network
deployment.
D
And
second,
each
grant
includes
a
requirement
for
the
recipient
to
expand
broadband
access
to
the
unserved
homes
and
businesses
in
its
project
area
and
recipients
cannot
receive
or
to
receive
their
full
grant
amounts.
Recipients
must
also
meet
these
build-out
requirements.
These
build-out
requirements
in
particular,
have
been
highlighted
as
a
best
practice
by
outside
groups
that
have
compared
tennessee's
grant
program
with
some
of
the
incentives
and
other
programs
in
other
states.
D
In
addition
to
this
state
money,
there
is
a
variety
of
different
federal
funding.
That's
been
made
available
for
broadband
programs
and
one
of
the
questions
that
all
of
this
raises
is
if
we
are
spending
all
of
this
money,
how
many
unserved
locations
are
left
in
the
state
and
what
is
it
going
to
cost
to
get
service
to
all
of
them?
D
Now
we
do
know
that
some
of
those
homes
are
likely
to
receive
service
as
a
result
of
projects
that
have
already
been
awarded
state
or
federal
funding,
but
just
haven't
been
completed
yet
so,
after
accounting
for
those
projects,
we
estimate
that
there
are
at
least
36
900
homes
remaining
in
those
census
blocks
that
will
be
unserved
based
on
the
median
cost
per
location
in
the
first
three
rounds
of
the
grant
program,
which
is
approximately
four
thousand
dollars
per
location.
That
includes
both
the
state
grant
and
the
applicant
match.
D
D
A
couple
of
takeaways
from
this
are
that
number
one
filling
the
remaining
coverage
gaps
in
tennessee
is
likely
going
to
require
a
combination
of
public
and
private
resources
and
number
two.
We
simply
don't
have
an
exact
count
of
the
number
of
unserved
homes
and
businesses
remaining
in
the
state,
and
this
brings
me
back
to
those
data
issues
that
I
brought
up
near
the
very
beginning.
D
D
D
The
fcc
is
currently
in
the
process
of
improving
its
data,
but
in
the
meantime,
there
are
a
number
of
states
that
have
taken
measures
into
their
own
hands.
For
example,
georgia,
having
reached
agreements
with
broadband
providers
to
report
address
level
data
to
it
for
every
home
and
business
in
the
state
has
created
its
own
broadband
maps,
which
it
updates
annually.
D
Georgia
has
also
been
able
to
use
this
data
to
help
its
state
department
of
education,
determine
the
number
of
students
in
that
state
who
are
in
areas
without
broadband
access.
One
important
thing
to
remember
when
thinking
about
that
model
is
that
safeguards
in
georgia's
law
that
established
its
mapping
initiative
prevent
the
data
that,
reporter
that
providers
report
from
being
shared
in
ways
that
would
reveal
business,
sensitive
information,
and
these
safeguards
have
been
critical
in
facilitating
providers
participation
in
that
program
according
to
staff
with
georgia's
mapping
initiative.
D
D
Our
first
recommendation
is
related
to
better
coverage
data.
The
commission
recommends
that
the
department
of
economic
and
community
development
should
develop
its
own
broadband
coverage
maps
for
the
state
updated
annually,
based
on
address
level
data
reported
to
it
by
broadband
providers,
as
is
done
in
georgia,
to
encourage
providers
to
participate
in
this
program.
The
commission
recommends
that
the
general
assembly
should
mandate
that
the
data
reported
to
ecd
for
these
purposes
is
protected
and
cannot
be
shared
in
ways.
That
would
reveal
business,
sensitive
information.
D
The
commission
recommends
that
local
governments
and
the
state
should
continue
to
identify
opportunities
to
increase
funding
to
libraries
and
schools
to
assist
their
efforts
to
facilitate
broadband
adoption
in
their
communities
and
for
libraries
in
particular.
The
state
should
continue
to
support
their
broadband
adoption
efforts
through
the
state
broadband
grant
program.
D
Our
remaining
three
recommendations
are
all
related
to
improving
broadband
access.
First,
the
commission
recommends
that
the
state
should
continue
to
fund
the
state
broadband
grant
program
for
providers
and
that
it
could
also
consider
increasing
the
appropriations
for
this
program
to
accelerate
broadband
expansion
to
more
unserved
areas.
D
Our
final
recommendation
is
related
to
electric
cooperatives
and
municipal
utilities.
Of
course,
the
2017
act
authorized
electric
cooperatives
to
provide
broadband
in
tennessee
and
22
and
of
the
22
cooperatives
that
serve
parts
of
the
state.
13
are
currently
either
providing
broadband
or
will
be
in
the
near
future.
D
Multiple
bills
in
recent
legislative
sessions
would
have
either
eased
or
removed
these
restrictions
and
anecdotally.
In
conversations
with
representatives
for
cooperatives
and
utilities,
several
it
appears
that
there
are
several
that
would
be
willing
to
expand
service
to
unserved
areas
or
to
at
least
some
locations
outside
of
their
current
electric
territories
if
they
were
authorized
to
do
so.
D
With
that
in
mind
or
or
keeping
that
in
mind,
it's
also
important
to
realize
or
to
consider
that
removing
that
restriction
could
potentially
create
risks
or
put
could
potentially
put
electric
rate
payers
at
risk.
This
is
particularly
the
case
if
broadband
projects
were
to
fail
so
weighing
those
risks
against
the
potential
to
improve
access.
D
The
commission
recommends
that
the
state
should
consider
eliminating
or
easing
the
existing
territorial
restrictions
on
electric
cooperatives
and
municipal
utilities,
but
in
doing
so,
the
state
should
also
consider
ways
that
it
can
protect
electric
rate
pairs,
for
example
by
prohibiting
these
cooperatives
or
utilities
from
pledging
loaning
or
otherwise
using
electric
system
assets
to
finance
broadband
projects
that
are
located
outside
of
their
electric
service
areas.
I
want
to
thank
you
for
giving
me
the
time
to
present
tasker's
findings
and
recommendations
to
you,
and
I
am
happy
to
try
to
address
any
questions
you
may
have.
A
Thank
you,
dr
owen,
appreciate
that
very
much
I
did
have
a
question
for
you.
We
spent,
I
think
we
spent
a
little
over
60
million
dollars
since
from
2014
to
2019,
which
you've
included
in
your
study.
It
looks
as
if
the
data
suggests
that
we've
only
increased
our
accessibility
to
the
to
broadband
by
six
percent
over
that
same
period
of
time
with
to
a
maximum
of
88
percent,
at
least
12
12.
A
The
the
reason
why
I
asked
that
question
is
the
range
you
gave
in
the
expenditures
in
order
to
get
complete
coverage
was
a
a
broad
range
150
million.
I
think
you
said
325
million,
but
if
the
numbers,
if
the
numbers
were
consistent,
then
I
would
think
that
the
remainder
is
not
going
to
be
as
affordable
as
the
other.
It
seems
to
me
like
that
the
200
million
dollars
is
exorbitant,
I
guess,
or
or
more
than
we
might
need
in
order
to
fulfill
the
the
the
idea
of
getting
a
statewide
coverage.
D
So
I
would
keep
that
in
the
back
of
your
mind
when
considering
what
it
might
cost
to
ultimately
build
out
service
to
every
home
or
business
in
the
state
when
it
comes
to
comparing
the
you
know,
149
million
versus
the
200
million.
Obviously
we
didn't
do
that
as
part
of
our
research,
so
I
I
don't
want
to
necessarily
speak
to
that
per
se.
I
do
just
want
to
just
again
to
set
expectations
for
what
that
36,
000
homes
number
would
be.
D
Those
are
only
in
census,
blocks
that
are
listed
as
fully
unserved,
so
there
could
also
be
a
number
of
homes
located
in
census
blocks
that
are
listed
as
serves,
but
those
blocks
are
only
partially
served.
So
I
would
anticipate
that
our
estimate
of
the
number
of
homes
remaining
in
tennessee
is
on
the
small
side.
A
Right,
I
would,
I
would
agree
with
that
statement,
mainly
because
the
georgia
data
that
you
referenced
showed
that
there
were
many
more
people
that
had
not
had
the
coverage,
even
though
they
had
been
listed
as
having
at
least
some
kind
of
coverage,
and
so
I
don't
want
to
take
a
whole
lot
of
time.
But
I
do
have
one
other
question
you
didn't
touch
on
it.
I
think
the
data
is
really
important
as
it
relates
to
to
where
we
go
from
here,
since
the
the
number
of
people
are
being
served.
D
Yes,
I
should
have
mentioned
that
in
our
presentation.
We
did
include
that
in
our
report.
So
when
we
talked
with
georgia
with
their
staff,
their
startup
costs,
their
initial
startup
costs
were
approximately
two
million
dollars
is
what
their
budget
was
to
get
their
project
off
the
ground.
They
did
that
over
the
course
of
two
years
and
they
estimated
that
their
ongoing
costs
were
somewhere
between
five
hundred
thousand
and
one
million
dollars
per
year
and
that's
to
keep
their
maps
updated.
E
Help
me
and
understand
the
difference
in
the
state
providing
broadband
broadly
and
different
entities,
like
maybe
your
local
providers
providing
it
and
how
that
would
connect
with
some
low-income
families
being
able
to
receive
the
services.
I
guess
to
pay
for
it
because
like
if,
if
if
schools
are
using
it
and
you
got
a
student,
low-income
family,
they
had
to
pay
for
it.
Just
help.
Talk
me
through
that
a
little
because
that's
what
I
don't
quite
understand.
D
So
you
know,
I
think
you
bring
up
a
very
good
point
that
cost
when
it
comes
to
the
affordability
of
service
when
it
comes
to
the
affordability
of
a
device,
is
an
important
issue
for
a
lot
of
our
families,
particularly
low-income
households.
When
you
look
at
the
survey
results,
that
is
continues
to
be
a
significant
reason
why
they
say
they
they
cannot
or
they
are
not
subscribing
to
broadband.
So
there
are
a
number
of
programs
out
there.
Some
of
them
are
public
programs.
Some
of
them
are
private
sector
programs.
D
So,
for
example,
I
mentioned
that
providers.
These
are
your
for-profit
providers.
Your
non-profit
providers
often
do
offer
low-cost
service
plans
for
qualifying
households.
I
think
the
other
thing
to
keep
in
mind
is:
there
is
a
federal
program.
The
federal
lifeline
program
which
does
offer
service
or
subsidized
offers
a
service
discount
for
qualifying
households,
it's
currently
around
9.25
cents
per
month,
and
that
can
be
used
on
broadband
service.
D
So
there
are
a
number
of
different
strategies
out
there
that
can
help
address
that
affordability
barrier
and
it's
it's
a
matter
of
what
works
in
your
community
and
what
resources
your
community
has
available
to
it.
I
think
even
the
the
federal
lifeline
program
is
is
actually
through.
The
consolidated
appropriations
act
that
was
just
passed
in
december
of
2020
has
actually
increased
the
discount
up
to
fifty
dollars
per
month
throughout
the
remainder
of
the
pandemic
or
through
the
emergency
period,
so
that'll
be
available
for
the
lifeline
program.
E
F
D
So
that
that
was
our
upper
end
estimate
for
those
36
900
homes
that
are
in
census
blocks
there,
where
no
one
reported
service.
As
of
december
2019,
I
apologize
for
all
the
qualifiers
where
we
anticipate
that
they
won't
receive
coverage
through
an
existing
project.
Yes,
that
that
upper
end
estimate
is
354
million
dollars,
and
that
is
based
on
the
maximum
cost
per
location
that
we've
seen
in
the
state
grant
program
to
date.
F
D
I
we
didn't
put
a
qualifier,
I
will
say
we
didn't
put
a
qualifier
on
that
in
the
report.
It's
it's
based
on
the
numbers
that
we've
seen
out
of
the
state
grant
program
and
I
apologize.
I
cannot
remember
for
that
specific
project.
What
type
of
build
that
was
that
had
the
maximum
it
was
around.
I
think
ten
thousand
dollars
per
location
and
I
apologize.
I
don't
remember
what
technology
was
used
for
that,
a.
F
They
can
put
an
antenna
on
top
of
that
school
and
then
you're
talking
about
just
a
small
equipment
purchase
for
each
one
of
those
homes.
Because
then
you've
got
a
wide
coverage.
We
could
cover
20
000
people
in
a
community
versus
the
versus
the
running
of
underground
utilities,
that
service
line
of
site
service,
wind
stream
provides
that
now
they
provide
it
here
in
downtown
nashville.
They
pride
it
in
rural
communities,
and
I
know
it
well
because
it's
a
product
I
sell,
and
so
I
would
say
that,
and
I'm
not
looking
for
a
comment.
F
I'm
just
saying
that's
more
just
of
a
catalyst
that
could
be
used
because
it's
all
about
driving
down
that
354
million
dollars,
because
we
got
200
million
dollars
from
the
state.
We
got
150
million
dollars
from
the
federal
government.
350
million
dollars
testified
this
morning.
It
would
cost
roughly
400
million
to
provide
access
to
everybody,
and
so
if
we
can
shrink
that
number
by
providing
a
high
quality
of
asynchronous
bandwidth
to
each
one
of
those
areas
without
having
to
dig
like
we
did
10
years
ago,
because
those
days
are
quickly
coming
to
an
end.
F
It
provides
for
a
much
broader
and
quicker
adoption
and
then
just
quickly.
My
last
point,
mr
chairman,
related
to
I
believe
it
was
recommendation.
Five
with
electric
co-ops
and
utilities,
you
had
made
the
the
reference
that
many
of
them
would
be
willing
willing
to
expand
outside
of
their
footprint.
And
I
will
just
say
bluntly:
there
is
no
doubt
they
would
be
willing
to
expand
outside
of
their
footprint,
because
they
would
be
using
taxpayer
dollars
to
expand
their
footprint
outside
of
where
they
serve
areas
now,
which
would
allow
which
would
require
us
as
taxpayers.
F
And
so
again
not
looking
for
a
comment.
Just
I'm
commenting
on
your
point
that
that's
something
we
have
to
be
very,
very
careful.
Careful
of
is
using
our
taxpayer
dollars
to
subsidize
the
expansion
of
an
entity's
network
to
allow
them
to
compete
against
the
private
sector,
but
thank
you
for
the
presentation.
It
was
a
really
good
presentation.
I
appreciate
it.
Thank
you,
mr
chairman.
G
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
and
I
add
by
kudos
for
the
presentation
to
that
of
chairman
zachary,
a
follow-up
question
from
chairman
zachary's
comments
and
then
to
my
question.
But
the
the
tesla
report
in
your
original
recommendation
was
the
the
muni
expansion.
Was
that
a
part
of
it
or
was
that
added
at
a
later
date
that
recommendation.
D
D
G
There's
that
wide
range
of
dollars
that
chairman
williams
referenced
in
addition
to
that
we
have
an
unknown
quantity
in
census,
blocks
that
the
fcc
has
designated
as
served,
but
that
might
be
only
two
customers
out
of
a
thousand
or
whatever.
So
do
we
really
have
any
kind?
And
maybe
at
this
point
there's
no
way
to
to
know,
but
looking
at
that
wide
range
of
dollars
that
if
I'm
hearing
you
correctly
that's
just
to
serve
the
36
000,
there
would
be
additional
expense
to
get
to
those
that
are
in
census,
blocks
that
are
only
partially
served.
F
That's
a
that
that
is
a
significant
problem,
one
we
need
to
continue
to
move
forward
with,
because
if
you
have
an
area
that
has
nothing
and
you
can
get
them
10
mega
bandwidth,
they've
gone
from
a
bicycle
to
a
honda
accord
and
that
that
that
really
sums
up
the
issue.
I
have
with
this
entire
discussion
that
we
have
related
to
broadband
and
I'm
not
saying
you're,
not
not
your
fault.
F
Obviously,
but
again
you
have
an
area
that
has
nothing
which
many
areas
right
around
me
and
knox
county
have
nothing,
and
if
I
go
to
them
and
tell
them,
I
can
get
them
10
meg
I
go
to
chairman
williams,
district
and
some
of
the
rural
areas
and
say
you
have
nothing.
I
get
you
10
meg.
That
is
an
absolute
gain
change.
F
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
gentlemen,
for
being
here
for
the
record.
You
do
get
netflix
even
in
rural
districts
like
cookbook
tennessee,
but
anyways.
I
appreciate
your
your
testimony
here
today.
I
think
one
of
the
things
that's
a
big
takeaway
for
me,
though,
is
if
we,
if
we're
the
same
population
based
as
georgia,
and
we
spent
10
million
over
the
next
five
years.
A
That
being
said,
a
gentleman,
if
I
have
you,
are
dismissed,
I
also
have
presenting
today
just
to
tell
us
a
little
bit
about
from
ecd
our
good
friend,
sammy
arnold.
He
is
deputy
commissioner
of
rural
initiatives
for
the
governor
from
ecd.
He
I
promised
him
that
you
would
not
ask
anything
over
a
30
000
foot
view
as
it
relates
to
questions
as
it
relates
to
rural
broadband.
A
But
I
thought
it
was
important
for
him
to
tell
us
for
those
of
us
that
might
not
know
how
the
grant
system
works
through
his
department,
how
it's
distributed,
what
the
match
is
and
those
kinds
of
things,
and
so
we
are
going
to
save
just
a
little
bit
of
time
after
a
brief
discussion
from
him
for
questions
for
for
you
as
well.
But
you
can
state
your
name
if
you
want
to
even
I'll,
introduce
you
but
sami
arnold
you're,
recognizing.
H
Thanks
chairman
williams,
sammy
arnold
ecd
and
assistant
commissioner
over
rural
development
at
the
department,
I
want
to
acknowledge,
matt
and
tasser.
We
really
recommend
their
report.
It's
one
of
the
better
reports.
You'll
read
we
refer
to
it
frequently.
I
also
want
to
acknowledge
my
broadband
director
crystal
ivey,
who
is
out
of
pocket
this
afternoon
and
apologize
to
anybody.
Who's
got
technical
questions
that
I
can't
answer,
but
I
assure
you
anything
I
can't
answer
I'll
I'll.
Have
you
an
answer
by
tomorrow
morning?
H
I
am
in
progress
thus
far,
so
the
broad
accessibility
act
passed
the
legislature
in
2017
accomplished
three
primary
things.
First
of
all,
there
created
our
grant
program
that
we
have
administered
for
almost
four
years
now
and
it's
a
grant
program.
That's
been
recognized
nationally
by
the
pew
center
and
other
folks,
like
that,
several
state
programs
that
have
come
online
after
ours
they
reach
out
to
us
to
try
and
replicate
parts
of
our
program.
We
really
feel
like
we're
seen
as
a
national
leader
on
this.
H
The
second
thing
that
the
bill
accomplished
the
bill
wisely
deregulated
the
market
and
allowed
electric
cooperatives
which
are
privately
owned
to
enter
the
broadband
space
and
they
have
been
some
of
our
best
partners
thus
far
in
this
effort
and
then
finally,
the
bill
gave
us
a
mechanism
to
support
adoption
in
digital
inclusion
efforts
in
all
95
counties.
I
want
to
talk
more
about
that
in
one
second
to
the
fundamental
question
here
of.
H
Why
are
some
areas
served
and
why
or
some
area
is
not
very
simple-
it's
a
cost-benefit
product
in
the
areas
that
that
are
still
endlessly
populated,
which
means
fewer
customers
to
be
able
to
give
you
your
roi.
So
what
our
grant
program
does,
very
simply,
is
we
share
a
portion
of
that
upfront
cost
with
the
provider
to
make
it
economically
feasible
for
them
to
do
the
project
that
second
item
there?
H
According
to
the
fcc
there's
a
58
adoption
rate
in
tennessee
he's
mad
alluded
to
maybe
a
little
low
tester
estimated.
I
think,
based
on
some
stuff
from
the
pu
center,
that
it
may
be
about
10
points
higher
than
that
and
there's
a
survey
from
the
american
since
the
census
bureau
that
estimated
to
be
up
around
80..
H
H
So
this
is
a
snapshot
of
our
program
to
date.
As
you
can
see
here,
we
have
awarded
three
rounds
of
grants
so
far
in
a
fourth
round.
As
you
see
in
the
upper
right
corner,
a
fourth
round
is
going
to
be
awarded
later
this
month.
That's
with
the
15
million
dollars
that
the
legislature
appropriated
this
time
last
year.
H
All
those
dots
on
that
map
represent
all
the
projects
that
we've
we've
supported
with
our
state
program.
So
far,
the
demand
for
these
grants
is
always
very
much
higher
than
the
amount
that
we
have
to
award
and,
as
you
can
see,
we've
given
39
grants
to
date
to
build
high
speed
internet
to
65
750
unserved
tennesseans,
and
so,
if
you
do,
the
math
there
that
equals
out
to
about
675
dollars
per
person
that
we've
gotten
connected
through
this
program
thus
far.
H
Here
I
want
to,
I
want
to
browse,
to
support
this
effort.
I
seriously
doubt
any
state's
done
as
well
as
we
have
on
this
problem.
Most
recently
governor
lee
and
the
the
financial
stimulus
accountability
group
directed
61
million
dollars
from
the
cares
act
for
about
60
emergency
broadband
projects
across
the
state
that
finished
in
about
three
months
and
connected
over
55
000,
unserved
tennesseans
really
really
good
work
by
our
providers
and
then.
Secondly,
there
we've
done
very
well
with
usda
reconnect,
which
is
a
usda
program
for
broadband
expansion.
H
When
secretary
perdue
was
here
in
in
middle
tennessee
a
couple
of
months
ago,
he
referenced
our
state
program
as
a
big
part
of
the
reason
why
tennessee
providers
have
fared
so
well
with
usda
reconnect
because
they
want
to
invest
in
states
that
are
investing
in
themselves
and
tennessee
was
one
of
the
states
that
was
on
that
list
and
then
finally
appalachian
regional
commission.
There
we
we've
directed
millions
out
of
our
arc
allotment
to
support
broadband,
builds
in
appalachia.
H
H
I
want
to
take
a
quick
minute
to
kind
of
talk
about
how
comprehensively
this
affects
everything
that
we
do
at
ecd
and
that
several
other
state
agencies
do
as
well,
so
at
ecd
we're
best
known
for
recruiting
companies
right
who
create
jobs,
and
we
compete
against
georgia
and
alabama
and
texas
and
south
carolina
for
those.
It
will
not
make
the
short
list
for
any
recruitment
project,
that's
widely
known
in
the
site
selection
community
and
has
been
for
10
years.
H
H
Rural
kids
live
in
unconnected
homes,
they're
they're,
at
a
disadvantage
compared
to
their
peers,
who
live
in
town
and
maybe
in
a
wealthier,
and
that's
just
not
something.
That's
that
feels
good
to
think
about,
and
then,
in
terms
of
liberal
communities.
Many
rural
communities
across
america
have
been
getting
older
and
have
been
shrinking
in
population
for
a
long
time
now,
a
big
part
of
that
is
poor.
Broadband
access,
young
people
don't
want
to
live
in
a
place
where
they're
not
connected
they're,
going
to
move
elsewhere
and
they're
going
to
create
economic
impact.
H
H
So
if
I
can
just
touch
specifically
on
how
the
pandemic
kind
of
brought
this
issue
even
more
to
the
forefront
so
because
of
the
dynamic
or
the
dramatic
increases
in
in
remote
work,
virtual
learning,
telehealth
and
all
these
other
things
upstream,
internet
usage
increased
by
63
in
a
single
year,
which
is
remarkable.
But
as
with
most
disruptive
events
like
the
pandemic,
we
think
there
are
some
significant
opportunities
that
we
may
be
able
to
take
advantage
of.
H
If
we
position
ourselves
well
to
do
so
so
number
one
is
that
the
just
there
seems
to
be
a
strong
possibility
that
companies
say
in
nashville
who
have
a
hard
time
finding
employees
in
a
very
competitive
labor
environment
here
can
recruit
employees
who
live
in
solana
or
gainesboro
or
hohenwald,
or
something
like
that
and
and
likewise
companies
in
memphis
could
recruit
in
bolivar
or
ripley.
And
if
you
live
in
bolivar,
you
wouldn't
want
to
drive
to
memphis
for
work
five
days
a
week.
H
But
but
you
know,
if
you
only
got
to
go
one
day
a
week
or
two
days
a
month
and
you
can
make
more
money.
Yeah
sign
me
up.
So
that's
a
that's
a
legitimate
possibility
that
we
want
to
take
advantage
of
post
pandemic,
but
we've
got
to
have
robot
robust
broadband
access
across
the
state
to
be
able
to
do
so,
and
we
also
need
to
make
sure
that
these
folks
have
a
marketable
skill
set.
Which
brings
me
to
the
second
item
there.
H
The
pandemic
has
really
forced
a
lot
of
institutions
across
the
country
to
ramp
up
their
online
course.
Offerings
and
the
opportunities
to
get
an
online
degree
or
certificate
have
never
been
more
plentiful,
but
you're
not
going
to
do
it
if
you
have
to
drive
to
the
mcdonald's
parking
lot
every
night
to
do
your
homework.
So
so
what
are
the
governor
at
the
state
of
the
state?
The
governor's
proposing
two
one-time
investment
that
we
believe
will
likely
be
enough
to
support
broadband
expansion
across
the
entire
state.
H
Definitely
is
a
a
bold
proposal
and
but
thanks
to
some
very
smart,
very
conservative
budgeting
by
governor
lee
in
the
general
assembly,
when
the
pandemic
hit
we're
in
the
strong
fiscal
position
that
we're
in
as
a
state
right
now
where
this
one
time
money
is
available
and
the
governor
wants
to
commit
to
this.
And
let
everyone
serve
tennessee
and
know
that
we're
we're
going
to
get
this.
H
Done
I
thought
it'd
also
be
good
to
point
out
that
governor
lee
is
not
alone
on
this.
So,
as
you
can
see
there,
there
are
a
lot
of
governors
across
the
country
planning
to
go
big
on
broadband
this
year,
starting
with
governor
reynolds
in
iowa
who's,
proposing
450
million
for
broadband
expansion
going
all
the
way
down
to
south
dakota
there,
where
governor
christie,
noem
legislature.
What's
even
more
interesting,
is
some
of
these
states,
so
south
carolina's,
entire,
but
or
south
dakota's
entire
budget
is
five
billion
dollars
compared
to
ours,
which
is
about
40.
H
H
So
we've
got
some
photos
here
of
of
the
project
that
we
some
projects
that
we've
supported
with
our
grant
dollars,
that
is
appalachian
electric
in
jefferson
county,
that's
holston
and
hawkins
county
there,
that's
a
company
called
sky
best
in
in
johnson
county
there,
and
that's
them
using
a
helicopter
to
lay
this
infrastructure,
which
is
pretty
amazing.
One
thing:
that's
one
thing,
that's
important
to
note
here.
These
are
infrastructure
projects
and
infrastructure
requires
construction.
H
So
this
is
something
that's
going
to
take
time,
and
if
this
appropriation
gets
approved,
there
could
be
a
lot
of
constituents
calling
you
the
next
day
saying:
hey
when's,
my
broadband
getting
turned
on
doesn't
work
that
way.
Unfortunately,
infrastructure
takes
time
to
build,
and
this
is
definitely
going
to
be
a
multi-year
effort.
H
Let
me
zoom
out
a
little
bit
and
kind
of
tell
paint
a
picture
of
our
rural
development
story
here
in
tennessee,
we've
got
a
story
developing
that
I
think,
is
really
remarkable.
So
in
2013,
as
you
can
see
there,
we
really
hit
a
low
point
in
terms
of
rural
development.
That
year
we
had
26
distressed
counties
and
we
had
60
counties
in
the
bottom
25
percent
of
the
nation
in
terms
of
economic
attainment,
60
out
of
95
counties
in
the
bottom
25
of
the
country.
It
was
a
major
major
problem.
H
Today
we
are
down
to
11,
distressed
counties
and
37
counties
that
are
in
the
bottom
quartile
of
the
country
and
that's
still
way
too
many,
but
it's
a
dramatic
turnaround
to
say
the
very
least,
and
it's
not
because
of
any
one
thing,
but
a
number
of
things
in
rural
development
efforts
that
began
under
governor
haslam
and
have
been
really
dramatically
accelerated
by
governor
lee
just
wanted
to
let
everybody
know.
It
certainly
feels
like
the
ship
is
pointing
the
right
direction
on
this.
H
We
need
to
keep
the
foot
on
the
gas
pedal,
so
that's
it
just
just
to
close,
I
want
to
acknowledge
that
200
million
dollars
is
a
lot
of
money.
It
definitely
is,
and
nobody
nobody
takes
that
lightly
right,
but
I
think
the
position
of
the
governor
is
that
our
rural
communities
are
worth
this
investment
they're
they're
worth
preserving,
and
it
feels
like
it's
time
to
get
this
issue
fixed.
A
A
Most
of
what
we
do
is
a
reimbursement
grant
right.
We
we
say
hey.
This
is
a
deal
I
didn't
know
if
it
was.
If
your
department
has
looked
at
you
know,
if
you
exceed
this
take
rate,
you
get
a
bonus
or
some
kind
of
incentive,
as
it
relates
to
the
overall
cost,
with
an
idea
that
there
has
to
be
some
implementation
or
take
rate
formulary
in
which
we
exhort
people
to
do
this.
Has
your
has
your
department
looked
at
anything
or
has
any
other
states
to
your
knowledge
done
any
data?
A
H
H
So
if
there
is
tremendous
community
support
for
an
application
that
you
know,
if
they've
got
communities
that
are
sending
us
letters,
we
we
sort
of
draw
a
line
that
that
community
is
going
to
have
an
of
a
higher
adoption
rate.
So
if
we,
if
we
get
an
application,
where
there's
no
community
support
letters
attached
to
it,
then
we
might
question
at
this
point
like
well-
maybe
maybe
there's
not
as
strong
a
demand
here
and
so
we'll
de-prioritize
that
application
in
favor
of
applications
that
have
strong
community
support.
H
So
we
we
it's
a
it's
a
fair
point
and
that's
that
that's
a
conversation
that
we
can
have
with
the
providers
and
the
the
one
thing
that
strikes
me
is
the
pro
the
providers
want
more
than
anybody
people
to
adopt
a
service.
So
I
don't
know
what
the
providers
might
do
you
know
to
hit
that
incentive
or
to
keep
from
having
to
you
know
for
us
to
call
money
back
from
them,
but
again
that
that's
it's
an
interesting
thought
we
could
talk
to
him
about
it.
A
Yeah,
I
think
it
would
be
good
only
because
if
we
get
into
the
process
where
we're
actually
mapping
and
understanding
the
data
better,
they
might
know
better
about
the
end
user
before
they
go
to
spend
the
money
to
put
to
put
it
in
there,
and
so
it
might
help
them
as
it
relates
to
that.
I,
I
don't
know
it's
pure
speculation
on
my
part,
chairman
garrett,
you
recognize.
C
C
Have
this
I'm
curious,
though,
if
if
the
ecd
is
coordinating
any
efforts,
I
know
under
the
rural
digital
opportunities
fund,
there's
an
enormous
amount
of
money
coming
in
to
do
this
exact
effort
from
the
federal
side.
So
my
concern
is:
are
we
are
we
doing
anything
to
ensure
there's
not
too
much
overlap?
In
other
words,
there's
not
way
too
much
money
coming
into
one
area
that
obviously
needs
that
money
that's
taking
away
from.
Maybe
another
area,
that's
right!
H
Yeah
sure
and
that
that's
why
I
showed
the
the
slide
four
or
five
whatever
it
was
about
our
track
record
of
leveraging
federal
funds.
Thus
far,
I
think,
has
been
second
to
none.
I
think
that
the
concern
that
that
matt
raised
is
that,
if
we
go
through
a
mapping,
exercise
like
georgia's
in
georgia's
results
found
out
that
the
fcc
undershot
their
their
number
of
unserved
populations.
H
By
about
a
third,
I
think
the
it
certainly
feels
like
we're
going
to
need
all
the
federal
resources
that
we
can
continue
to
pull
down
and
we've
done
that
in
the
past,
and
we
want
to
keep
doing
it
and
whether
it's
usda
reconnect
or
the
karzak
money
or
the
arc
money,
it's
sort
of
to
me.
It's
like
a
puzzle.
You
make
all
the
puzzles
pieces
fit
together
in
a
certain
way
that
really
maximizes
our
state
dollars.
Another
thing
that's
being
talked
about
now
is:
is
I
don't
know
if
there's
gonna?
H
I
have
no
idea
what
congress
is
doing
right,
but
but
if
there's
another
stimulus
bill,
there
could
be
some
broadband
infrastructure
money
in
that
there
supposedly
was
gonna,
be
some
in
the
last
one.
Then
it
got
pulled
out
so
who
knows,
but
regardless
definitely
can
assure
you
that
that
we
will
make
it
a
priority
to
use
federal
money
in
a
smart
way
that
preserves
tennessee
taxpayer
dollars.
C
Well,
well,
thank
you
for
that
out
echo
that
I'm
not
really
sure
at
all
what
congress
tends
to
be
doing
these
days,
but
but
I
just
want
to
make
sure
that
you
know
as
a
tennessee
taxpayer,
we
hold
these
funds.
We
want
to
make
sure
that
that
areas
that
do
deserve
this
certainly
do
not
get
what
I
would
refer
to,
as
maybe
double
subsidized
in
a
sense
from
both
the
state
level
and
obviously
the
federal
level.
C
A
H
F
We
cannot
subsidize
carriers
and
providers,
utilizing
tax
dollars
to
expand
network
capacity
and
increase
infrastructure
within
an
existing
network
to
an
area
that
already
has
broadband
access,
and
so
in
order
to
make
sure
we're
accomplishing
the
goals
we
have
to
be
whether
we
have
to
do
it
statutorily
or
you
guys
are
able
to
establish
that
working
with
us.
The
proper
definition
for
unserved
and
underserved.
F
There
have
to
be
two
definitions
and
I
believe
the
match
percentage
has
to
look
very
different
for
an
underserved
area
than
it
does
unserved,
whether
it's
50
50,
and
I
know
there
may
be
even
some
flexibility
with
that
with
an
underserved
area,
an
area
where
you
have
got
capacity
now
and
you've
got
broadband,
then
the
match
for
those.
It
should
really
be
further
down
the
list
and
then
the
match
should
look
a
little
bit
different.
So
I'd
like
to
have
further
conversations
related
to
those
specifics.
H
Yeah
that
that
sounds
good
and
we'll
we'll
have
crystal
there
for
that,
because
I'll
need
her.
But
the
another
thing
that
I
would
want
to
stress,
too,
is
when
we,
when
we
crafted
that
2017
bill,
we
had
tons
and
tons
of
stakeholder
input
into
that
bill,
so
to
the
extent
that
we
could
incorporate
input
from
all
the
stakeholders
if
we're
going
to
contemplate
changing
any
of
the
program
guidelines
or
even
potentially
the
statute
that
I
think
that
would
be
that's
something
that
served
us
very
well
in
2017.
F
Mr
chairman,
last
one
last
comment
and-
and
I
think
it's
important
to
remember
too
working
with
a
provider
whomever
that
provider
is
it's
the
same
as
if
you
go
to
a
guy
and
ask
him
if
you
need
an
oil
change
and
he's
going
to
tell
you,
you
need
an
oil
change,
you
go
to
a
provider
and
ask
them.
Should
we
spend
resources
on
this,
and
would
this
definition
fit
with
what
we're
trying
to
accomplish?
While
they
also
know
they
can
use
tax
dollars
to
expand
and
improve
infrastructure?
E
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
and
I
appreciate
what
chairman
zachary
is
saying,
because
I'm
in
an
unserved
area,
but
I
got
to
tell
you
to
be
underserved-
is
almost
as
bad
not
being
served
at
all.
So
that
brings
me
back
to
how
do
we
craft
this,
where
you
know
it's
best
not
to
have
broadband?
If
you
don't
have
it
that
work,
you
know.
So
how
do
we
really
accomplish
the
goal
of
providing
it
for
every
tennessean,
where
everybody
will
have
decent
broadband?
H
If,
yes,
we
could
we,
we
can
give
a
grant
to
anybody
that
the
any
area
that
the
fcc
says
is
unserved,
but
we
have
to
prioritize
areas
that
don't
even
have
10
1
internet
right,
which
is
the
less
than
what
the
fcc
you
know.
The
defines
is
that's
slower
than
what
the
fcc
defines
as
broadband.
So,
if
you
don't
even
have
the
the
10-1
speed,
we
have
to
prioritize
you
in
the
application
process,
but
but
does
that
answer
your
question.
E
E
I
I
think
some
another
people
got
to
be
clustered.
The
providers
got
to
be
clustered
to
some
degree,
so
we
can
get
service
good
service
for
all
tennesseans,
and
you
talked
about
the
farmers,
and
I
appreciate
the
conversation
because
you
know
I'm
surrounded
by
farmers
as
well
as
residential
areas.
People
who
really
gotta
have
broadband
to
be
successful,
but
but
the
farmer
can't
run
his
planter
down
in
the
in
the
boondock.
Would
underserve
broadband.
A
Thank
you,
arnold,
thank
you
for
coming
today.
I
really
appreciate
it.
We're
ran
out
of
time.
I
think
that's
all
the
questions
we
have
for
today,
commissioner.
Arnold
is
happy
to
answer
any
questions.
If
you
have
any
questions
as
it
relates
to
tasser,
you're
welcome
send
in
my
office,
gentlemen,
we
appreciate
your
the
discussion
today,
unlike
getting
an
oil
change,
though
these
people
are
paying
50
of
the
oil
change.