Kentucky lawmakers on a state government committee advanced a bill this week that would drastically change the state’s agency charged with providing internet access via a project named KentuckyWired.
The Kentucky Communications Network Authority was created by former Gov. Steve Beshear through an executive order in 2015. It created KentuckyWired - a state-run utility that provides high-speed internet to rural areas and essential places like local government offices and schools.
Along the way, the state’s internet project has run into a spate of troubles.
In 2018, an audit found that the KentuckyWired would cost taxpayers nearly $1.5 billion dollars more than originally expected. In more recent years, it’s become involved in a bitter lawsuit that’s threatened disconnection in some areas.
“There is a real widespread concern about how KCNA is currently overseeing this project,” said Republican Rep. Matt Lockett.
Lockett authored the bill that would eliminate the director of the Kentucky Communications Network Authority and move the agency out of the governor’s office and under the Office of Technology. He said, currently, KCNA operates as an “independent, largely unchecked body.”
The bill is scheduled to be considered for an amendment on the House floor on Monday, and could pass out of the House the same day.
