Level of Government

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Utah, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. This approval enables Utah, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S.

I write to bring to your attention a serious and time-sensitive censorship issue occurring on the social media platform X. Numerous users have recently reported being blocked from following Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign handle @KamalaHQ in the past two days, following the news that President Biden will not seek re-election and that he has endorsed Vice President Harris as a candidate for President. As you know, Vice President Harris is now a bona fide candidate for President of the United States in the 2024 elections.

A report detailing the cause and impact of a nationwide AT&T wireless service outage on February 22, 2024, that lasted at least 12 hours and prevented customers from using voice and data services, including blocking more than 92 million phone calls and more than 25,000 attempts to reach 911. Key findings include:

After a Supreme Court stacked with Trump-appointed justices overturned the 40-year-old Chevron deference doctrine, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Stop Corporate Capture Act (SCCA). The SCCA codifies the Chevron doctrine and strengthens the rulemaking process to block corporations from hijacking our government. The legislation would:

The  Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Covered Agencies) agree as follows:

Governor Laura Kelly (D-KS) announced that $10 million has been awarded to 12 internet service providers (ISPs) in the latest round of Broadband Acceleration Grants. The awards will be paired with an additional $12.7 million in matching funds, resulting in an investment of nearly $22.7 million for high-speed broadband access projects across 14 rural Kansas counties. Initiated in 2020, the Broadband Acceleration Grant is a 10-year, $85 million program designed to bring essential internet access to Kansas communities.

Christine Hallquist was well-qualified to serve as the Executive Director of the Vermont broadband office when Governor Phil Scott appointed her to the position in 2021.

Rural broadband provider Comporium said yesterday that it gave York Electric Cooperative (YEC) a check for nearly $1.1 million, which represents a portion of a grant that Comporium was awarded by the South Carolina Broadband Office. The money came through an innovative program offered by the state for a project on which Comporium and York Electric partnered.

Imagine transforming your community’s lighting grid into a high-bandwidth communication network, extending coverage, and enhancing connectivity across neighborhoods and business parks. The Brightening Connected Communities with Innovation Pilot Project will identify and test a mix of community partners. Selected projects will demonstrate novel use cases of Signify’s BrightSites technology to increase connectivity and help solve public safety, public connectivity, and transportation challenges.

They say Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither is broadband. One in five New Mexicans don’t have reliable high-speed internet at a time when such technology is a necessity, not a luxury. It’s imperative that constituents, households, businesses and other entities have broadband that delivers telehealth, distance learning, government services, job creation, economic growth and other vital services. Throughout New Mexico—particularly in rural areas and the 23 tribal communities—lack of accessible and reliable internet continues to hinder people from getting online.