A state panel Wednesday endorsed the state Department of Commerce's request for $124.7 million more in federal American Rescue Plan funds to award broadband grants to rural communities.
With a few audible dissenting votes, Arkansas' 15-member American Rescue Plan steering committee voted to recommend approval of the request.
In May, Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed the steering committee, comprised of nine Hutchinson administration officials and six state lawmakers, to recommend the best uses of $1.57 billion in federal recovery funds and $157 million in federal capital project funds under the American Rescue Plan. In March, President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion law that is designed to help the U.S. recover from the economic and health effects of the covid-19 pandemic.
So far, the Arkansas Rural Connect program has awarded $279 million in broadband grants to provide high-speed broadband service in rural areas. The 132 projects have been financed with $157.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds; $118.1 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds; and $4 million in state funds, according to state records.
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Jim Hudson, the Department of Commerce's director of strategy and operations, told the steering committee that Hutchinson two months ago set a goal for the Arkansas Rural Connect program to award $250 million more in grants financed with federal American Rescue Plan funds by the end of this year.
The Arkansas Rural Connect program has received more than $400 million in additional grant applications, though not all of the grant applications are qualified for the program, he said.
Hudson said the $124.7 million requested by the Commerce Department would finance 32 "shovel-ready" broadband projects spread across the state.
The largest proposed grants include $11.3 million to Ritter Communications to provide service in northwest Jefferson County, $8.9 million to Hillbilly Wireless to provide service in south Sharp County and $7 million to Ritter Communications to provide service in southwest Pope County, according to the Commerce Department.
But committee member Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, objected to approving the agency's request.
He said state lawmakers he has consulted are not comfortable approving additional grants until "we get" the statewide broadband master plan that lawmakers want.
Hudson countered that "we can do both at the same time."
There is no question about whether 32 proposed broadband grants are needed, he said, and the master plan may not be available until May.
Hutchinson administration officials have awarded a $2.2 million contract to assess Arkansas' broadband needs and develop a master plan for expanding broadband service to the Broadband Development Group of Little Rock, despite the company making the highest monetary bid and scoring the lowest on a technical basis compared with its two competitors.
Several senators preferred what they called the company's "boots on the ground" approach of holding town hall meetings to gather public input and determine service needs.
Sample said "we want to see the master plan and fund the projects" based on that master plan.
"We have got several years to do this," he said. (American Rescue Plan funding is required to be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026, Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Scott Hardin said afterward).
Sen. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, who serves on the Legislative Council's Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee, said he wants more information to see how many of the broadband projects awarded Arkansas Rural Connect grants have been completed and how many are still in the works.
Hudson said the subcommittee will receive a thicker packet of information than the steering committee received with detailed information about the territory covered by the proposed grants in addition to demographic information.
Afterward, Ingram said he joined Sample in voting against recommending approval of the $124.7 million request.
In other business, the steering committee recommended approval of a total of $16.6 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to four nonprofit groups that requested a total of $28.1 million.
With no audible dissenting votes, the panel voted to recommend providing the following amounts of federal funds to the following groups:
• $8.28 million of the $12 million requested by the Arkansas Coalition against Domestic Violence to assist 29 domestic violence shelters across the state.
• $6.29 million of the $13.8 million requested by the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault to assist 18 rape crisis centers across the state.
• $1.75 million requested by Women & Children First in Little Rock to help cover the cost of furniture, fixtures and equipment costs for a relocated shelter and the Family Peace Center.
• $374,896 of the $543,328 requested by Ozark Rape Crisis Inc. in Clarksville that provides sexual assault and domestic violence prevention and response programs for eight counties.