Legislators current and former discussed how to promote,...
Legislators current and former discussed how to promote, introduce and enact legislation centered on minority and women’s business ownership and participation Tuesday at a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council conference. They tied such legislation to broadband and 21st-century connectivity needs.…
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Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., described a Tuesday morning meeting at the White House in which President Barack Obama discussed his ConnectED program first in the course of a 75-minute meeting. “Nine billion dollars in ConnectED to connect these institutions -- that is great progress,” Butterfield said. Congress must “act quickly” in updating its communications policy, and consumers “ultimately pay the price of burdensome rules,” he said. Those without broadband are “disenfranchised,” he said, praising the federal government’s broadband stimulus grants. Officials run into political obstacles in enacting legislation, speakers said. “It’s as bad as it appears and probably even worse,” Butterfield said of partisanship. Tennessee State Rep. Joe Armstrong (D), president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, lamented the political “gridlock” nationally that “puts pressure on us as state lawmakers.” Banks are afraid to lend, fearing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will ask them to raise more capital due to loans at risk, said former Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. County governments are “still an untapped resource,” said Stephanie Lynch, president of the National Organization of Black County Officials. She wants to “make sure county officials are at the table,” she said. But “we cannot afford to just sit around and look as things begin to move,” said former Rep. Ed Towns, D-N.Y. He urged focused collaboration.