SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Checking her emails using her local café's Wi-Fi in Nevada County, Alexa Wondergem said she would rather be doing so at home. But a stable internet service at her house isn’t available.

Wondergem's only option for even simple tasks is cell service for data, which is spotty at best, she said.

The mother of three works from home as a bookkeeper and said she struggles with her job, as many accounting programs are entirely online-based.

“When I have to do a lot of data entry, I have to go to some other location," Wondergem said. "I have to make sure they're open. I have to pack all my stuff up, tell my kids I'm leaving and go, so that's frustrating.”

According to the California Department of Technology, 3.5 million Californians — many in rural areas — lack internet access because of affordability, lack of infrastructure and other issues.

A big part of the state’s plan to better the digital divide is its middle mile broadband program that would create the infrastructure for providers to tap into and provide services where they’re lacking.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced, in his revised budget, cuts of $2 billion to broadband programs.

The deputy director of the state’s middle mile program Mark Monroe said at a recent panel talk the cuts mean a challenging time ahead deciding who may miss out.

“We’re in a really good place, but we now have some tough decisions ahead of us,” Monroe said.

It's a worrying sign, said Pat Blacklock with the Rural County Representatives of California. But he said they're working with the governor’s office, and there is optimism as the budget hasn’t been signed by the governor.

“We're hopeful that we may see some of it reinstated, at least at a base level, so that we can continue to proceed forward,” said Blacklock, chief executive of RCRC.

Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, head of the Assembly Communications & Conveyance Committee, said while the cuts are not ideal, there are federal dollars they can tap into.

“We should really be spending down our federal dollars first," Boerner said. "These federal dollars have a deadline. The state dollars do not have a deadline. So, we should be spending down the state dollars, building our middle mile and getting out those grants.”

It's something Wondergem said she hopes will happen soon, as her internet issues have already meant her 21-year-old daughter had to rethink her future career.

“My oldest wanted to do some stuff with internet, but you don't really have the opportunity up here to have classes and to have good internet to practice with,” Wondergem said.

It's something Wondergem said she hopes her two younger kids won’t have to do.