FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2021
Contact: WisDems Communications (press@wisdems.org)
Superior Mayor: Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Will Make Internet “Faster and Cheaper” and Help Clean Wisconsin Waterways
MADISON Wis. — Earlier today, Superior Mayor Jim Paine held a press conference to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure package backed by President Joe Biden and federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, highlighting how the deal will help Superior generate good-paying union jobs, provide tools to combat climate change, and invest billions of dollars in funding to continue cleaning Wisconsin’s waterways.
Mayor Paine also emphasized how the infrastructure deal will deliver fast, cheap, and accessible broadband internet to every neighborhood in Wisconsin – including Superior – by investing $65 billion for expanding high-speed internet. This critical funding, which would build on money allocated by Governor Tony Evers and provided by the American Rescue Plan, will help the nearly 400,000 Wisconsinites who lack access to broadband.
Wisconsin Public Radio: $1T Infrastructure Bill Could Help Fix Wisconsin’s Deteriorating Roads, Bridges And Water Systems
“In Wisconsin, around 394,000 people lack access to broadband internet at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people to work and learn remotely. Despite large state and federal investment, that number may be even higher due to the way the Federal Communications Commission measures and reports access.
“Internet access is more limited in rural areas of the state like northern Wisconsin where there are fewer residents, making it more difficult for companies to justify investing in costly infrastructure. Superior Mayor Jim Paine said Tuesday the bill could help support a proposal to build a city-owned broadband network.
“‘Because the federal government has now stepped up twice through the American Recovery Plan Act and now through this bipartisan infrastructure bill, we’re going to be able to deliver it faster and cheaper than we had ever planned before,’ said Paine.
“Paine said the legislation would also accelerate work by the city and multiple federal, state and tribal partners to clean up the St. Louis River, which has been designated one of the most polluted sites on the Great Lakes. The bill would add $1 billion in funding to a federal Great Lakes cleanup and restoration program over the next five years, according to the National Wildlife Federation.”
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