There’s one thing I know for sure: the biggest threat to the survival of rural Virginia is our lack of reliable internet. Without it, our businesses can't compete, our students can't learn, and our residents can't access convenient healthcare.
If we want to save the rural lifestyle, we must have rural broadband. Internet access is no longer a luxury; it is vital to success in modern society.
Broadband isn't always the sexiest issue, but it's crucial and intersectional. Universal broadband would provide better accessibility, health care, employment opportunities, and economic potential for our entire region. That includes today’s farmers, who rely on internet access for everything from GPS to help with planting to putting internet-enabled collars on their livestock. No other development could have so many beneficial results for so many.
Rural Virginia — all of it — needs broadband.
In the 1930s and 40s, the U.S. government brought electricity to 90% of farm homes. Elected officials should be treating our need for rural broadband with the same urgency.
Instead, they're acting like internet service is a luxury item. It isn't.
As a millennial, I grew up knowing that reliable internet is an absolutely essential service for participating in our society. It's a perspective we desperately need in the General Assembly.
When discussing rural broadband, our legislators often throw up their hands and say it's just too expensive to install the fiber.
This is a failure of imagination. New tech is making it more feasible to use existing infrastructure, like power lines, to get our communities wired.
But we cannot rely on private companies to get us broadband in rural counties. Telecommunications providers clearly think they’ll never make money bringing this essential service to the people who need it. We need government action on the state and federal levels to make this happen.
Delegates need to put pressure on the federal government and corporations while working to do as much as possible for funding at the state level. That's what isn't happening right now, and that's what I will do in Richmond.
My job as a community organizer is to leverage public support toward a goal, and that’s what I'll do to get broadband into every home.
I want to get the stakeholders to the table, especially electric co-ops that have been resistant to develop an actual PLAN for delivery.
Right now, everything is left up to localities, which means everyone is re-creating the wheel. What we need is a bill that would create a comprehensive plan for delivery of broadband to the entire Commonwealth. We’ve got to get everyone on the same plan.
Those of us who live in rural areas have seen politician after politician for years say they support rural broadband, but then nothing changes. Our kids can’t do their homework, our businesses can’t run efficiently, and we’re left with seemingly endless frustrations.
Some people have given up on the cable companies and the government, choosing to invest thousands of dollars themselves to get connected to reliable internet. But other folks just don’t have the financial resources to pay a $500 upfront fee to connect to satellite internet.
We can’t let people get left behind simply because of where they live. That’s why I would also support a bill to offer financial assistance to folks who do not yet have access to an affordable option to help get them online.
I know we can get broadband to rural areas, but we can’t do it without your support. I hope you’ll join our movement by chipping in $5, $14 or $28 to my campaign so we can get this done. Let’s work together to get everyone connected!
JENNIFER KITCHEN — DELEGATE FOR VA 25 FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM DONATE