Stimulus Bill Transforms Options For State and Local Governments

The American Rescue Plan, the biggest infusion of funds in decades, will soon start putting state, local and tribal governments in a situation they have not experienced in years: Items that had long seemed totally unaffordable are now well within reach. Erie County (NY), which includes Buffalo, has for years struggled with barely functioning internet in its rural areas, which have been mostly bypassed by internet providers. A plan for the county to lay cable for internet service was scrapped a year ago when COVID-19 blew a hole in the county’s budget, but the county executive plans to include the broadband project in the $178 million the county will receive.