This Friday is the deadline for Iowa senators and representatives to file bill drafts to the Legislative Services Agency, and House District 20 Representative Ray Sorensen (R) says one of his bill priorities addresses internet connectivity.

Last year the Empower Rural Iowa Act provided $5 million to help 17 broadband projects in rural Iowa, including the City of Adair. Governor Kim Reynolds (R) requested in her legislative address an additional appropriation of $15 million this year for the program. Sorensen, who serves on the House Commerce committee, says he and other lawmakers have been working on several ideas to facilitate Iowans access to broadband. He says he disagrees with those who think of this access as a luxury, explaining it’s become a necessity for communities to thrive, “I kind of look at it as electricity was back in the days when it was invented and then getting it to everyone, because you know obviously people lived and worked before the advent of electricity. But I think about living without electricity now, and I feel like internet connection and our connection to the world via the web is a lot like electricity was back in those days and we can’t afford to fall behind in that.”

Sorensen says some of the barriers to broadband expansion are money, lack of infrastructure, and regulations. He says his committee is working diligently to make sure Iowa isn’t left in the dust. To hear more from Sorensen, listen to Monday’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program online at raccoonvalleyradio.com.