After federal delays and political shifts, the state’s long-awaited broadband expansion is starting over with half the funding — leaving millions of Texans still offline and waiting.
The quasi-government agency would be able to seek grants, issue bonds and even levy fees to carry out projects that would protect life and property from the increasing number of storms and heat waves across the state.
State transit officials look to invest in transportation infrastructure to assist economic development and a growing population, including more than $400 million for various transportation projects in Cobb County.
The partnership will develop strategies and landing pads in preparation for future electric oversized drone technologies. But some argue that the city’s resources would be better spent on existing transportation infrastructure.
The country’s third largest subway system, once a public transit gem, suffered greatly thanks to a fragmented funding structure. Now, a regional effort to save the system is working, but COVID-19 presents a new hurdle.
The multibillion-dollar proposal would represent a “once in a generation” investment in broadband networks. Here’s what it would do, and what it leaves out.
Less than 60 percent of the state’s 1,781 townships have requested their share of the American Rescue Plan Act funds. Treasury Department officials are urging local governments to apply for funds before the Oct. 4 deadline.
The city will visit 20,000 households that experienced backups and flooding in June to provide temporary fixes while the water department develops a plan to rebuild aged infrastructure.
The right kind of public-private partnerships could liberate billions of dollars for other infrastructure and to address critical urban needs. But it’s important to protect public values.
With the city’s transit system badly flooded by the hurricane’s rains, calls have grown to increase capital spending now to upgrade subways and buses. But fees from the road tolling program are many months away.
The $1 trillion infrastructure package makes no explicit mention of the state’s efforts to build a high-speed rail, but lawmakers are continuing to analyze if pockets of funding are available from other areas.
The massive infrastructure bill, if approved, could give the state $100 million for expanding its rural Internet and subsidize services, which would be significant for the nearly 20 percent of households without broadband.
The lasting problems of infrastructure aren’t of need or construction, but of overbuilding, delayed costs and the challenges of thinking ahead.
Declining cable viewership means less revenue for local governments. Fort Scott hopes it can staunch the loss by making the streaming giants pay a franchise fee, something they currently don’t do.
State and local governments are set to receive billions if the legislation passes, including funding to support cybersecurity, broadband, transit, roads, water and more. Here are the details.
Local governments could turn to special assessment districts to cost-effectively assure safety improvements, bypassing occupants’ foot-dragging and dysfunctional homeowners’ associations.
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