2016 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 163
BY SENATOR BROWN
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Honorable John Bel Edwards, Governor of the state of Louisiana,
to take all necessary action to seek federal funding to provide high-speed broadband
Internet to all Louisiana citizens.
WHEREAS, access to high-speed broadband is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity
for families, businesses, and consumers, a key competitive factor for economic development,
education, and quality of life, and vital to full participation in economic, educational,
political, and social life; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana is the 36th most broadband connected state in the nation with
only 77% of the state's population having access to 25+ mbps wired broadband, 19% of the
state's citizens are underserved with access to less than two wired providers, and 250,000
people do not have any wired Internet provider available where they live, all according to
BroadbandNow, which particularly impacts persons in high poverty and in remote urban and
rural areas of the state; and
WHEREAS, funding for broadband projects, including deployment, public access,
adoption, and planning initiatives, is available through a number of federal agencies.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Honorable John Bel Edwards, Governor of the state of
Louisiana, to take all necessary action to seek federal funding to provide high-speed
broadband Internet to all Louisiana citizens.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
governor of the state of Louisiana.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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