Gov Evers Urges Republican Legislators to Approve High-Speed Internet Budget Investments as Trump Administration Changes Delay Wisconsin Broadband Funding

Gov Tony Evers (D-WI) urged Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature to approve substantial state budget investments to continue expanding high-speed internet across Wisconsin as new sweeping Trump Administration changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program will effectively delay broadband funding Wisconsin expects to receive. The Wisconsin Broadband Office at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin estimates that 39 percent of Wisconsinites lack access to affordable internet and that there are 262,000 locations that are considered unserved in Wisconsin as of December 2024. Republicans on the state budget committee—the Joint Committee on Finance—are scheduled to take up Gov Evers’ 2025-27 Executive Budget proposal to invest $400 million in the state’s Broadband Expansion Grant Program, which works to provide or improve broadband internet in unserved areas across the state. The vote comes as the Trump Administration recently announced sweeping new changes to the BEAD Program, effectively further delaying Wisconsin’s progress to bring affordable, high-speed internet to homes and businesses across the state.