Richard DeBolt talks to citizens during his section of Meet the Candidates at the TransAlta Commons in Centralia College campus in October 2018.
State Sen. Dean Takko has heard many stories from rural residents of his district about housing sales that fell apart after the potential buyer learned they wouldn't have access to internet.
Takko, a Longview Democrat representing the 19th District, said internet can be just as important as electricity, so the state should help expand access for everyone.
Legislation intended to expand internet access across the state, starting with areas with no service, has been progressing through both the state House and Senate. All six representatives from the Lower Columbia region voted for the legislation.
Improved internet access will benefit people in rural areas who run businesses from home, take online classes and access telemedicine services, 20th District state Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, said Thursday. His district, which includes parts of Cowlitz, Lewis, Clark and Thurston counties, has many rural areas with limited internet access.
DeBolt is a sponsor of a House bill that creates a statewide broadband office and a grant program through the Public Works Board to create rural broadband infrastructure, such as laying fiber optic cable. Local governments, tribes, nonprofits, limited liability corporations intending to expand broadband access and incorporated businesses would be eligible for the grants.
The grant process would start with areas that have no access to broadband, then move to those that have limited or slow access, DeBolt said.
"The bill is pretty good," DeBolt said. "It builds out the system and allows for competition to then light it up in service, which I think is a real benefit. Certain people do certain things well and we need to maximize on that."
Once the internet system is in place, a public bidding process would let private companies compete to provide the service, DeBolt said.
The legislation also would allow ports to provide telecommunications services outside of district limits and public utility districts to temporarily provide internet service if a private provider ends its service.
The bill would allocate $25 million in the Statewide Broadband Account within the State Treasury for loans, grants and studies of the need.
Takko said it is important to have public funds available for smaller organizations to install internet systems because they may not be able to afford it on their own.
"It's going to be very expensive over the long run ... but people want to have reliable broadband just like they want reliable electricity," Takko said. "We often compare it to the days when we were trying to string power to everybody."
The legislation is intended to connect all Washington businesses and residences to high-speed internet with minimum download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second by 2024.
The Senate unanimously passed the legislation on March 6. It was referred to the House Committee on Innovation, Technology and Economic Development.
A companion bill was passed out of the House 95-1 on March 8. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology, which passed it and referred it to the Committee on Ways and Means. It is scheduled for a public hearing on April 4.
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