ODESSA, Texas — When the pandemic started, Michelle Villegas was in 6th grade. Now she's finishing up middle school, but not without some unpleasant memories from remote middle school.

"The tests would just, it would just load and load and load. Like I hated seeing that circle was just, it was in my nightmares, the circle!" she said.

The nightmarish loading circle is something that so many families across the nation can relate to as the pandemic exposed a weak link in rural America’s access to the internet. Michelle's mom says her heart broke watching her daughter struggle just to simply join a class.

"It was stressful, it was overwhelming, it was frustrating," she said.

The Villegas live on the outskirts of Odessa, Texas – a boom or bust oil town that’s one of many spots on the map without access to reliable internet.

According to the FCC, 6% of the country’s population lacks internet access. Narrowing in on rural communities, one in four lacks access – that’s 14.5 million people.

"I couldn't get on and I would call my mom crying because I was like, mom, I'm going to fail this. Like, my grades are so low because I can't do this," Michelle recounted.

Scott Muri is the superintendent in Ector County, where Odessa is located. When the pandemic hit and they had to move to remote learning over the course of a weekend, they found that 39% of their student body lived in areas with inadequate internet or no internet at all.

"Many of our kids do not live in an area of our community, that even if they had the money, they could access the internet, it's simply didn't exist," said Muri.

With that large of a percentage of students that couldn’t log on for remote school, they had to think of solutions. So they decided to shoot their shot and contacted SpaceX to be a part of their Starlink internet access pilot project and the multi-billion dollar company said yes.

"This big dad started to cry because he understood as a parent, what that a simple little dish was going to mean for his children because he had watched his kids struggle mightily to connect with their teachers," he said.

What Ector County has is a unique public-private partnership. However, federal dollars will trickle into tackling this same issue nationwide. $45 billion dollars from the infrastructure bill is going toward equitable broadband access.

"I think we need to appreciate broadband as a utility. You know, it is not a special thing that only certain people have. It is not something that you earn through wealth. It is something that is a right and a privilege and an opportunity for every American," he said.

Next year, Michelle is entering high school and both her and her mom are relieved to have reliable service because it will help put her on an equal playing field for the rest of her education.

"Everything is technology now. And if you don't have a good internet source, you're not going to be caught up with everything that's happening now. Like you're going to be left in the past," said Michelle.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Senate’s budget plan would squash the state’s momentum toward boosting broadband access and make it harder to get more residents connected to high-speed internet in areas where the private sector isn’t stepping in, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said.

As lawmakers sort through competing state budget proposals this week in pursuit of an agreement, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration is advocating for them to keep the $190 million that the House proposed for expanding residential broadband and scrap the Senate’s proposed restrictions for local government-owned broadband networks.

Operators of such networks say the Senate proposal could hamstring or kill their operations just as they’re seeing a federal tailwind. President Joe Biden’s administration is advocating for funding such networks and local governments getting access to huge amounts of federal relief funding that could be used to address broadband needs.

The pandemic exposed how important high-speed internet has become for schooling, business and other aspects of modern life. Economic development officials consider it an essential service, akin to public utilities. But state officials say an estimated 300,000 households and at least 1 million residents across Ohio lack broadband, and some advocates say the numbers are even higher.

The language passed by the Republican-led Senate would restrict local governments to establishing government-owned networks to provide broadband service only in “unserved” areas within their own jurisdiction — limiting partnerships and excluding service to adjacent areas, even if those might be economical. The bill also would restrict how those networks could use federal or other funds toward the substantial costs of such projects.

For communities hoping to use federal relief funding to create or expand their own broadband networks, “This bill could just cut us off at the knees,” said Bethany Dentler, executive director of the Medina County Economic Development Corporation. “And it’s the citizens and the businesses who are worse off for it.”

The open-access broadband network Medina County created has helped improve access and lowered customers’ broadband costs, she said. But she said the budget legislation would block the subscriber growth that the county’s network needs to help cover its costs, and could jeopardize a private-sector partner’s $50 million commitment to expanding residential broadband in the area.

It’s also possible the restrictions could be challenged as an intrusion on local governments’ “home rule” rights under Ohio law, said Lindsay Miller, a former director of the nonprofit Connect Ohio who now works on broadband issues with the Ice Miller law firm.

Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, indicated the language was added to the bill to make sure municipalities are serving underserved areas in their own jurisdictions, not getting into the broadband business as profit-seeking competitors to private providers in a wider area.

The lieutenant governor argues that’s not the problem. Solutions are still needed for areas — often poor or rural areas — where private providers understandably don’t operate because they can’t make enough money to justify their investment, said Husted, who also leads the state’s InnovateOhio effort.

The state took a step to address that this spring by allotting an initial $20 million for the new Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program, intended to connect more hard-to-reach homes by funding the parts of such projects that providers consider unjustifiable from a business perspective.

The House version of the budget included another $190 million, but Senate Republicans excluded that funding. Huffman said more clarity was needed about the plan for using that money.

Husted said the level of interest expressed for potential projects is already exceeding the amount proposed by the House.

“We’re trying to help the communities and the people who don’t have access because the private sector isn’t coming,” he said.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The digital divide in Ohio has been an issue for years. Now, it's escalating.

“We believe this is an economic issue,” said Angie Cooper, Chief Program Officer at Heartland Forward.

Right now, more than 1.4 million Ohioans don’t have internet service and 29% of Ohio K-12 students don't have adequate access, which may be causing a long-term domino effect across communities.

“Not having affordable high-speed Internet access is impactful to not just students, it's impactful to our workforce. It's impactful to our health care. We saw that even while people were signing up for vaccinations. If you didn't have access to get online these things became very, very challenging,” Cooper explained.

But state leaders are taking a step towards change by partnering with the FF and the nonprofit Heartland Forward. Together they're launching a $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program. If you qualify, can get up to $50 off broadband service in your area and up to $100 to help buy a computer or tablet to allow access at home.

However, the program will not be sticking around for long. The benefits are set to expire when funds run out or six months after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declares an end to the pandemic.

“Once funds run out, the emergency broadband benefit program will not be available. Those dollars will not be available to households,” Cooper said. “That's why it's so important. This was passed during COVID and it's so important for people to be aware that there's money out there for them to receive.”

So far 2.3 million households have signed up nationwide. Yet, we're told the numbers in Ohio are missing the mark.

“The numbers in Ohio still need to be increased,” said Cooper.

Cooper says the program is simply a temporary fix giving hope as the state looks for something permanent.

“Heartland Forward will be working over the months and years with state leaders and with the federal government to ensure that there are permanent solutions put in place.”

Do I qualify?

A household is eligible for the program if one member of the household meets at least one of the following criteria:

• Has an income that is at or below 135 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid or the FCC’s Lifeline program;
• Approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch or breakfast program;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
• Experienced a substantial loss of income through job loss or furlough since Feb. 29, 2020; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider’s existing low-income or COVID-19 program

How do I apply?

Those eligible can enroll in the program in several different ways.

If you do not have access to the internet, you can sign up through a participating broadband provider or by calling (833) 511-0311 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. any day of the week to request a mail-in application and more information about the program.

If you shave access to the internet, they can apply online by clicking here.

For more information about EBB, click here.

If you need help with the application process you can also call the RemotEDx Connectivity Champions at (844) K12-OHIO or click here.

FULTON COUNTY, Penn. — When you think of "infrastructure reform" you probably think of roads, bridges or maybe the occasional train.

The White House wants you to think about those areas and more when the word "infrastructure" appears.

THE PLAN

In the American Jobs Plan, $100 billion is allocated for broadband improvements.

The White House estimates 35% of rural America has poor or insufficient access to high speed internet.

President Biden wants 100% nationwide access by 2030.

In order to pay for it, as well as trains and roads, corporate taxes would be raised from 21% to 28%.

While Democrats and Republicans agree on improving broadband access, the debate is over how it is paid for, with Republicans not wanting to touch the corporate tax rate.

IMPACT ON RURAL AMERICA

About 14,000 people live in and around Fulton County, Pennsylvania.

The views are great, but the internet is not.

"For me, I can’t do anything online. It just doesn’t connect," Reuben Knepper, an 8th grader in McConnellsburg said.

While Knepper has adequate internet access at school, when he goes home he struggles.

It's not that his parents can't afford it, it is simply not offered.

In fact, the independent research group BroadbandNow says only 47% of residents in Fulton County have access to appropriate internet.

The FCC defines "appropriate internet" as at least 25 mbps.

As a result, young Rueben is forced to do his homework in the school parking lot.

"Normally I just spend hours and hours here at school doing it," Knepper said.

"It would just make my life a lot easier if I can do it while I am at the house," Knepper added.

For the school principal, it's a problem. When remote learning was in place, she couldn't live stream lessons like other school districts.

"Because of our broadband, that’s just not an option for us," Dr. Christina Ramsey said.

"I think the biggest thing is to have our students have access and have it be fair and equal across the board," Ramsey added.