A Polk County lawmaker is trying to bridge the high speed internet divide in Florida.

Tuesday night, Florida State Rep. Josie Tomkow (R-District 39) led a “Real Rural Tech Talk” in Polk City. It was a roundtable discussion, sponsored by Charter Communications, to talk about the lack of high speed internet in some rural communities.

“This year, we have seen just how important broadband is, not just to rural areas but to some communities throughout our state,” Tomkow said.

This week, Tomkow filed legislation, Florida House Bill 1239, that would give certain tax breaks to companies that provide broadband infrastructure and help fix that connectivity gap. More than 800,000 Floridians are without high speed internet. 

“It’s very aggravating, makes me want to move,” said Lake Wales resident Jodi Wood. 

Wood lives in a mobile home community near the Kissimmee River. Her connection is so spotty. She recently purchased a CB radio to put in her car.

“It’s just good for emergency,” Wood said.

In Polk City, the Boyer family had fiber put in underground so they’d have high speed internet at their home. It’s costing them thousands of dollars a month. But Naomi Boyer said the internet service is essential for her and her husband’s job.

“Never thought it would be an issue,” Boyer said. “You don’t realize how bad it is until you’re without your internet."

Tomkow believes her proposed legislation could help solve the issue and raise awareness. Since the pandemic, it’s become a problem not only for the workplace but also the school system.

“When talking to the school districts, they have students that unfortunately we’d see sitting outside of Taco Bell or Starbucks to try to get internet access because they were unable to at home,” Tomkow said. “It’s a serious issue and if we’re wanting these children to learn and be able to continue to grow, and to be competitive when they get out in the workplace or even for people who want to be entrepreneurs or work for a company, we want to make sure they have the resources to do that job.”

In an essay competition, 4H students shared their thoughts about the internet divide. Some of them said they’ve had trouble with e-learning because of connectivity issues. 

The essay contest was sponsored by Charter Communications. 

Working with the FCC, Charter is investing $5 billion in expanding service in rural parts of the country. The project’s aim is to bring internet and cable to one million unserved Americans.

Charter is the parent company of Spectrum, Spectrum Bay News 9 and Spectrum News 13.