Senator Glen Womack, (R)-Harrisonburg, joined Governor Jeff Landry in praising the Broadband Damage Reimbursement Program’s step forward this week towards reimbursing local governments and utility systems the money they spent to repair broadband construction damages caused to their public underground utility systems. The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget this week approved the guidelines of Louisiana Department of Health’s Broadband Damage Reimbursement Program expected to begin taking applications through its online portal on November 1, 2026.
“Louisiana is leading the way in solving the digital divide nationally as billions are invested to ensure universal high speed internet coverage,” said Governor Jeff Landry. “It is equally important that we bury as much of this broadband infrastructure underground where feasible while being sensitive to existing infrastructure, such as water, sewer and gas lines. Thus, we are making it a priority here in Louisiana to allocate extra broadband funds to develop a first of its kind map of our utility infrastructure and to appropriately reimburse our communities for any damages caused in the construction process.”
“As legislators, we saw that we needed to step up and provide state support for our local public utilities, municipalities and parish governments who couldn’t shoulder the cost of these construction repairs on their own,” said Sen. Womack, chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
Sen. Womack worked with his colleagues in the legislature to lead the effort to create the Local Infrastructure Fund to reimburse these local utility systems for qualifying repair expenses. This year, the legislature tasked the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) with setting up the program to manage those reimbursements. Beginning July 1, 2026, the state will now direct $5 million each year towards the program.
“We’re balancing getting people the best when it comes to high-speed internet infrastructure, while ensuring that we are building with our constituents in mind,” said Veneeth Iyengar, Louisiana State Director for Broadband Development and Connectivity. Iyengar stressed that burying broadband service lines to stay resilient as a community often means working closely with existing public infrastructure in the process.
LDH told legislators this week that it anticipates as many as 300 public water systems, municipalities and parish governments could apply for reimbursement for repairs made as a result of broadband expansion damages incurred from January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2026. To apply, each eligible utility system or political subdivision must provide certain damage documentation in order to receive reimbursement for the cost of materials, equipment, labor and professional support provided for eligible repairs the systems made to their public underground utility infrastructure. Under the program guidelines approved this week, the local system may be reimbursed up to 100% of supported damage cost (or $50,000) when it serves 10,000 people or less, or 100% of supported damage cost (or $30,000) when it serves more than 10,000 people. Often, smaller utility systems bear a greater proportional burden when it comes to these kinds of repair costs.
LDH’s Broadband Damage Reimbursement Program application portal will open on November 1, 2026 and close on January 1, 2027. The LDH Bureau of Engineering Services will make funding recommendations by January 31, 2027.
For more information on LDH’s Broadband Damage Reimbursement Program guidelines, please email [email protected].