A Year One Update on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Connecting Tribal Communities

The digital divide on Tribal lands includes broadband access, adoption, and application. On June 22, 2022, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an assessment of federal efforts to increase Tribal broadband internet connectivity in the U.S. In the report, the GAO observed that connectivity in Tribal nations still lags behind the United States significantly and that Tribal Nations need more resources to overcome barriers to sustainable broadband access, adoption and application on their lands. The first big investment to bridge this divide came in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress created the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and provided it with  $1 billion in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, signed by President Donald Trump in December 2020. But Congress soon realized the digital divide on Tribal Lands could not be bridged with just $1 billion.