SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico legislators are trying to fix the deficient broadband system that residents have struggled with during the pandemic as basic services migrated online.
Schools and some health care services like vaccine sign-up are mostly online. Many New Mexicans are not, including one in five students at the start of the pandemic. A bill introduced to the house would create a broadband clearinghouse to manage federal grants, who supporters say is the main funder of internet expansion in the state. The bill would not fund internet access for all, which the Department of Information Technology estimates would cost over $1 billion.