Rep. Carter Nordman Photo courtesy of ballotpedia.org

With the 89th Iowa General Assembly scheduled to end this week budget talks have continued, including money for broadband expansion.

Iowa House Representative for District 19 Carter Nordman says when the House passed the administration and regulation budget, it contained $100 million dedicated for broadband in Iowa which Nordman says is important, considering that Governor Kim Reynolds signed the policy portion for broadband into law earlier this week. 

Nordman tells Raccoon Valley Radio lawmakers want Iowa to be at the front of the pack when it comes to developing broadband.

“We want to be the leaders in broadband, especially in our rural areas, that broadband was once a luxury, now it’s a necessity. We want to lead the way on broadband and show the rest of the country that it can be done.”

The budgeted portion for broadband needs to pass the Senate before being signed by Governor Reynolds to become law.