Legislation

In an open letter, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. shared a summary of the progress the Biden-Harris administration made over the last four years. The focus of the letter is on economic recovery and the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. A key tenet is President Biden's Investing in America agenda, which aimed to mobilize historic levels of  investments in the United States and revitalize U.S. infrastructure, including broadband internet access. Here is a look at President Biden's broadband accomplishments as he prepares to leave office.

Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) has awarded a $2.9 million grant to expand high-speed internet access in Etowah County, Alabama. The grant was awarded to Spectrum Southeast in support of a project to make high-speed internet available to 352 previously unserved households, businesses and community institutions in the Ridgeville area. The grant money is being made available through the Capital Projects Fund program, which is supported by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and her fellow Commissioners heard reports on the agency’s efforts to expand connectivity and access to modern-day communications. The presentation summarized the Commission’s efforts on providing fast, reliable and affordable internet, an essential element for personal and professional aspects of everyday life. These efforts included:

As the Senate Commerce Committee is set to convene for the first time in the 119th Congress, we look at the membership of the panel and their priorities when it comes to broadband policy. Previously, we looked at the priorities of Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who sits on the Commerce Committee as well. The committee includes 15 Republicans and 13 Democrats. 

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Delaware’s Final Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service. Delaware’s Final Proposal outlines its plan for using the more than $107 million in allocated BEAD funding to connect 5,721 households and businesses.

BJ Tanksley has been the director of Missouri’s broadband office since 2022 and has lived and breathed rural broadband for even longer. Previously, Tanksley was director of state and local legislative affairs for the Missouri Farm Bureau, where he served on a committee that developed a proposal for a program that would cover some of the costs of deploying high-speed broadband in rural areas where it wasn’t available.

Arizona has set January 6 to February 5 as the Round 1 application window in their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program deployment process. The state has been allotted $993.1 million in the program. Arizona’s BEAD Program will be administered by the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA).

The National Telecommunications Administration (NTIA) awarded the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Commission for Educational Technology over $9 million in Digital Equity Capacity Grant funding towards implementing the state's Digital Equity Plan.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Louisiana’s Final Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service. Louisiana’s Final Proposal outlines its plan for using the more than $1.3 billion in allocated BEAD funding to connect 140,030 households and businesses. Louisiana is the first state to have its Final Proposal approved.

The incoming Trump administration should not pause the government’s $42.5 billion effort to end the digital divide, said Brandy Reitter, head of Colorado’s broadband office. There’s been speculation the Trump administration might alter some Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rules the GOP has been strongly critical of, from its fiber preference to its low-cost service requirement for low-income households served on subsidized infrastructure.