Strangling Rural AI Adoption in the Cradle

In Rural America, we still talk with respect about President Franklin Roosevelt and Rural Electrification, nearly a century after FDR literally brought light to rural darkness across the entire United States. The Rural Electrification Administration made such a huge impact because the utility companies of the day did not believe that there was any money in Rural America, so they did not bother bringing electricity to us. In the 21st century, we have another market failure of epic proportions in Rural America: the lack of broadband internet. Enter the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, which finally enabled States to determine where the funding should go, with sufficient funding to actually bridge the digital divide once and for all. Was BEAD perfect? No. Was it a lot better than its predecessor programs? Absolutely. Why? Because States took the lead in broadband deployment. The BEAD process has been a lengthy one because it is actually thorough. Many states were well into the first and second rounds of the application process, and a few states were actually done. Everyone could see that the light at the end of the tunnel was not an oncoming train. If the Feds had sense enough to leave the States alone, we would have been in a position to bring the entire United States into the 21st century. In other words, we would have lived long enough to declare victory over the digital divide that has plagued us for the last 30 years. Enter Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

[Louis Riggs is a State Representative in the Missouri House of Representatives from Hannibal, Missouri.]