On Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that she will sign a mid-year supplemental budget after the Michigan House and Senate approved it last Thursday on a broad, bipartisan basis. The budget includes a whole host of investments, but one key investment is funding for broadband access, including much-needed dollars for the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI). Rural advocates, including Center for Change Northern Michigan Advocacy, Michigan Farmers Union, AFT Michigan and a number of other community organizations pushed hard over the past few months to approve funding for MIHI to ensure that everyone has access to reliable and affordable internet service.
“While this entire funding package is huge for Michigan, I want to focus on the small but important part that myself and our partners have been laser-focused on for the past few months,” said Joanne Galloway, executive director of the Center for Change Northern Michigan Advocacy. “While the Governor created the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office last summer through executive order, we needed the legislators to take action, and at last, they have. We can do good things when we work together.”
Families need reliable internet access to finish school assignments, access telemedicine services, put their small businesses on a level playing field, and video chat with their loved ones. The MIHI office will help make sure communities have equitable internet access and serve the more than 212,000 households throughout Michigan that lack high-speed internet connection.
“I am excited that our Governor and the legislature are making MIHI a reality so rural communities have the resources they need to connect and thrive,” said Bob Thompson, president of Michigan Farmers Union. “Family farmers need to closely monitor commodity markets, have access to educational programming, make the most out of opportunities presented by federal and state loans and grants, and purchase and deliver necessary farm inputs, parts and other supplies, all of which require a stable internet connection.”
“We will continue to monitor implementation of the office, and we appreciate the bipartisan support the supplemental received,” said Bernard T. Paige, communications director for Center for Change Northern Michigan Advocacy. “We also appreciate our partners Progress Michigan, AFT Michigan, Michigan Farmers Union, Southwestern Michigan Urban League, Detroit Disability Power, Oakland Forward, Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health and the Michigan Education Justice Coalition in advocating for the need to fully fund MIHI.”
Source: Progress Michigan news release
