Does America Want to Invest in Broadband? Submitted on April 9, 2021 Friday, April 9, 2021 Does America Want to Invest in Broadband? You’re reading the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s Weekly Digest, a recap of the biggest (or most overlooked) broadband stories of the week. The digest is delivered via e-mail each Friday. Round-Up for the Week of April 5-9, 2021 Taglang On March 31, President Joe Biden traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to unveil his American Jobs Plan, and what he touts as a once-in-a-generation investment to rebuild the country's infrastructure. The plan calls for investing $100 billion to ensure everyone in America has access to high-speed broadband infrastructure. In a White House fact sheet outlining the American Jobs Plan, the Biden administration recalls the national effort to bring affordable access to electricity to all through the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. In 1936, nearly 90 percent of farms lacked electric power because the costs to get electricity to rural areas were prohibitive. By 1950, due to the Rural Electrification Act, close to 80 percent of U.S. farms had electric service.