House Commerce Committee Leaders Continue Examination of $7 Billion Broadband Stimulus Programs

Republican leaders of the House Commerce Committee continued their examination of the president’s broadband stimulus programs, requesting information from both the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding Rural Utilities Service’s Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP).

In a letter to RUS Acting Administrator John Padalino, the members requested information regarding the agency’s management and oversight of the BIP program, particularly its review process for awarding $66.4 million in grants and loans to Lake County. Members expressed concern that the Lake County project may be overbuilding areas already served by existing broadband providers, instead of expanding access to underserved or unserved areas, as required by ARRA.

Additionally, committee leaders requested GAO examine all of the loans and grants distributed through the BIP program. The members wrote, “As we seek to expand the deployment of broadband infrastructure in a constrained budget environment, the overbuilding of existing broadband networks using federal dollars represents a significant concern. As GAO and others have reported, access to broadband service can improve economic growth and quality-of-life. Yet, overbuilding diverts scarce budget resources from areas without broadband service to areas with service and can impede vital private-sector investment. Given the need to ensure the most efficient and effective use of federal dollars and guard against waste, fraud, and abuse, we ask that GAO conduct an in-depth analysis of work already completed under BIP.”