ATLANTA – Lawmakers want to use a tax break to lure broadband internet providers into underserved areas of the state.

A measure filed this week would exempt providers from paying the sales tax on the equipment used to expand service in areas with poor coverage.

It’s not clear yet how much that incentive would cost the state. Budget analysts were still reviewing the impact on Thursday.

Also unclear is how much it will fill the coverage void. The proposal’s sponsor, Rep. Don Parsons, R-Marietta, said he sees it as a “start.”

“My bill, I can tell you, will not cure the issue of lack of broadband or bandwidth in rural Georgia,” said Parsons, who heads the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee.

The sales tax break would apply to work done in about 115 counties – areas with either low-income communities or areas that lack adequate broadband.

Under the proposal, providers would have to enhance access to at least 10 megabits

per second. That’s still well below the Federal Communications Commission’s definition of broadband, at 25 megabits.

But it would be a vast improvement over what they have now.

The plight of rural Georgia came into focus over the Legislature’s break, when lawmakers traveled the state to hear from residents and others about the uneven state of service.

“Some of these areas, you might have access but it’s such poor access that you might as well not even have it,” said Rep. Jason Shaw, R-Lakeland, a co-sponsor of Parsons’ bill.

Communities could also take a hit under the tax break, said Todd Edwards, deputy legislative director for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.

“Those are our poorest counties in the state. They’re already struggling to make ends meet,” Edwards said, referring to the loss of potential sales tax revenue.

There’s also no guarantee that expanded broadband service will go where it’s most needed, he added.

Another bill, also recently filed, calls on the state technology authority to study the problem more deeply. It would also create a program that certifies communities as “broadband ready.”

To earn that distinction, governments would have to adopt ordinances limiting fees that can be charged to companies and agreeing to follow set deadlines for processing applications. Participation would be voluntary.

Other bills expected this legislative session include one that clarifies that electric cooperatives can provide broadband service – a proposal that House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, has already said he supports.

Shaw said the cooperatives could be a key player in filling the broadband gaps.

“These electric providers are everywhere, and they’re in every place where we’re trying to get broadband,” he said. “That last mile, so to speak, they’re already there.”

But Parsons said there are questions that need to be answered before the Legislature turns the cooperatives loose to deploy broadband.

That includes issues like whether they have a competitive advantage over private companies – and whether a legislative fix is even needed.

“It’s my understanding that there’s nothing that prevents them from doing it now if they wanted to,” he said.

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.