Experts want to help heartland cities compete for tech jobs. Their plan costs $100 billion.

Coastal hubs are snapping up most new, high-tech jobs. Researchers say it's time for the federal government to make a massive investment - $100 billion over 10 years - to ensure metro areas in the heartland are keeping up.

Just five metro areas - Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle - picked up 90 percent of the 256,063 tech jobs created from 2005 to 2017, my colleague Taylor Telford reports. This is exacerbating economic inequality throughout the U.S. as these cities draw highly educated workers, while employment prospects in other areas dwindle, according to the authors of a new report from the Brookings Institution and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

The authors are proposing that Congress pick eight to 10 up-and-coming tech cities away from the coastal hubs and heavily invest in research and workforce development. The authors want lawmakers to run a rigorous selection process to pick the rising tech centers, but suggested a list of potential candidates such as Madison, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis.

"The nation's tech-driven spatial divides have reached emergency status and won't resolve themselves on their own," said Mark Muro, the study's co-author, in a news release accompanying the report. "It's time for the nation to push back against these trends and conduct a major experiment to see if we can help eight to 10 promising metros emerge as really dynamic anchors of growth in the nation's heartland."

The proposal may have a moonshot price tag, but it could gain traction in today's political climate: Economic inequality is emerging as a central theme of the 2020 elections. Politicians are hungry for creative proposals to address the issue after President Donald Trump's presidential election victory highlighted how many voters feel like they've been left behind by the tech boom.

The report is already catching the attention of some members of Congress. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, will appear at an event in Washington later this week to discuss the report and how it could shape the work they're doing on the Senate Competitiveness Caucus.

"The concentration of tech hubs in a few cities is hurting the middle class, plain and simple," Coons said in a statement. "It's bad for folks outside these cities who miss out on jobs and wealth created by this thriving sector, and it's bad for workers who can no longer afford to live in these cities.

A spokesman for Moran said that the senator "remains active in his work to attract employers - including from the tech sector - to regions like Kansas, while also making certain appropriate opportunities are available to start-ups and small businesses."

The report's authors note that their $100 billion cost estimate is "substantially less" than fossil fuel subsidies over a 10-year period. To make a real dent, the authors write, Congress would have to invest $700 million in each city per year for a decade.

The funding would be directed to a wide range of tech research programs, such as additional grants for research universities in these cities and graduate research fellowships. The authors also want extensive regulatory changes to make it easier for these up-and-coming cities to attract and retain top tech talent. They propose a number of tax incentives to make the cities more attractive to high-tech firms. They also are suggesting an antitrust exemption so that companies can invest in cities together, without fear of legal challenges.

State politicians are taking notice. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has already written to his state's congressional delegation, urging them to consider the proposal. Madison and Milwaukee were among the potential candidates for federal funding the researchers identified.

"I believe our state has the infrastructure, institutions, and most of all, the relationships and commitment to turn idea into a successful reality," he wrote. "The courage to enact this sort of bold initiative will not just support the communities that receive funding, but will serve to strengthen Wisconsin and the nation as a whole and support our position on an increasingly competitive world stage."