It’s easy enough to criticize politicians when they do something you don’t like, and we’ve given Sen. Kay Hagan grief about her, er, fluid positions on health care reform. So it’s only fair to give the pols a shout-out when they follow through on a promise.
During her campaign for the U.S. Senate, Hagan emphasized the need to expand broadband access for people and businesses in rural areas. Yesterday, Sen. Hagan announced that North Carolina will receive a bit more than $2 million to bring broadband to “under-served” areas of the state. The money comes from the Commerce Department and is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus package. Two million bucks isn’t enough to complete the job — in fact, according to BlueNC, it’s only enough to map out the areas where broadband is needed and begin planning the full expansion. But hey, it’s a very good start, and considering Congress’ normally sluggish pace, it’s pretty quick work by the rookie senator.
This article appears in Oct 6-13, 2009.
