The Fiscal Year 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act provides a total of $68.537 billion in discretionary funding.  The bill provides $10.8 billion for the Department of Commerce. This includes programs reauthorized or newly created by the CHIPS and Science Act, including: $41 million for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program; $175 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Program to improve the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers and strengthen domestic supply chains; and $37 million for the Manufacturing USA program. The bill also provides up to $10 million for NIST to establish a U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute. Additionally, the bill provides $25 million for EDA’s Good Jobs Challenge initiative and $5 million for EDA’s Assistance to Indigenous Communities Program—a new grant program focused exclusively on the economic development needs of Tribal governments and indigenous communities. The bill also includes a provision to allow the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to access additional funding to implement broadband programs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, assisting grantees in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories. These programs are critical to connecting every American to high-speed, affordable broadband, and they include the Digital Equity Act Programs, the Middle Mile Program, and the Tribal Connectivity Program.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) seeks comment on a letter from 69 Internet Service Providers, Trade Associations, State and Local Officials, School Districts, Unions, and Civil Society Organizations [including the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society]. The letter requests that the FCC  provide “[Rural Digital Opportunity Fund] and [Connect America Fund Auction] awardees who cannot or do not intend to build their networks a very short and expedited amnesty period of no more than a month that allows them to relinquish all or part of their winning areas without being penalized to the full extent that the Commission’s rules provide.” Interested parties may file comments on or before March 26, 2024; reply comments are due April 9, 2024. 

The Department of Commerce's Inspector General asked industry stakeholders to identify challenges they are facing with broadband programmatic deployment to unserved and underserved locations. In response, these stakeholders identified challenges regarding expanding high-speed internet access via infrastructure deployments: the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program Notification of Funding Opportunity’s (NOFO’s) Extremely High Cost Per Location Threshold (EHCPLT) provision for broadband technology could limit applications and reduce BEAD funding, programmatic exclusion of unlicensed spectrum or satellite could lead to overbuilding without oversight, lengthy permitting processes could lead to broadband deployment delays, and workforce shortages could slow infrastructure deployment. These challenges could impact stakeholders’ ability to successfully deploy broadband as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, discourage technology providers from applying for grants, decrease competition, encourage wasteful spending to connect locations with existing broadband access, and increase deployment cost. To address the potential impacts of the identified challenges, NTIA should consider:

1. Relaxing the BEAD NOFO’s fiber preference and Extremely High Cost Per Location Threshold provision to take into consideration the limited availability of resources to support fiber preference.  
2. Developing a formal oversight process to ensure overbuilding would be limited to those locations permitted by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which NTIA identified as locations with existing internet service using unlicensed spectrum or satellite.
3. Working with or forming a coalition with the broadband industry, states, and territories to develop a national database of critical broadband industry jobs and national, standardized training programs, certifications, and licenses. 

At least 13 states intend to undertake “nondeployment” projects as part of their funding under the $42.5-billion BEAD program, according to their initial proposals. The number of states that expect money left over after allocating funds for all unserved and underserved locations could be higher, and perhaps considerably so. In addition to the 13 states that have specified nondeployment funding proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, seven more states say they have enough funding to meet all locations, but do not detail specific nondeployment plans. The 20 states that are optimistic about being able to use what they regard as sufficient BEAD funds to connect all un- and underserved locations are Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Many of these states have outlined plans for how they will use any remaining BEAD funds in drafts. States can only pursue nondeployment activities if they have a comprehensive plan to deploy broadband service to all currently unserved and underserved areas within its jurisdiction. 

Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) announced over $50 million in grants to expand broadband access to an estimated 8,900 homes and businesses throughout Minnesota. Twenty four broadband expansion projects will receive grants from the Department of Employment and Economic Development's (DEED) Office of Broadband Development, helping deploy new broadband infrastructure around Minnesota. Using the grant funding, providers plan to expand high-speed broadband – offering speeds of at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload—in 25 counties across Minnesota. [The 24 grantees are listed at the link below]

While Indiana continues to battle the digital divide–the gap between those who have and don’t have broadband access–there are significant signs of progress. State and federal funds totaling nearly $1.5 billion are being deployed to help connect the estimated 150,000 unserved or underserved Hoosier addresses. Private sector companies are also getting engaged, including AT&T, which is in the midst of fiber projects in 12 Indiana communities and regions, and it’s all part of what some are calling a once in a generation opportunity. Purdue University Vice President for Engagement Roberto Gallardo said if someone is on the wrong side of the digital divide, it impacts their quality of life. There are signs, however, that Indiana is moving the needle when it comes to connectivity. According to the Indiana Broadband Office, there were around 300,000 unserved or underserved addresses in Indiana three years ago. Today, that number is closer to 150,000. Now, with Indiana’s $868 million allocation from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, the state is at a tipping point.

This white paper ultimately represents the story of how our newly formed office found an efficient and effective way to address the digital divide in our community through the development of a novel local benefit program, as told by our associate Augusta Groeschel-Johnson. We accomplished all this by first and foremost listening to the advice of others, whether it was Department of Social Services case workers, our Procurement officers, or the Maryland team that developed its statewide benefit and whose input helped us click the final pieces into place. Building our program as a supplement to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) allowed us to minimize administrative overhead and fraud risk, while providing these funds to community members with a demonstrated need. Developing our program with the input of so many partners will allow us to chart new paths, ones we had already mapped out before ACP fell in our lap.