State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program

All across the country, a group of connectivity experts teaches locals, old and young, about the benefits of getting online. These workers, called Digital Navigators, link people in the community with the resources and opportunities they don't know exist, like arranging online health appointments, applying for jobs, doing homework and making their businesses visible on the internet.

On March 27, 2025, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to consider the confirmation of Arielle Roth, President Donald Trump's nominee for Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. If confirmed as the Assistant Secretary and head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Roth would oversee $48.2 billion in broadband infrastructure and adoption funding Congress allocated through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The Idaho Commission for Libraries (ICfL) shared a couple of important updates about the Digital Access for All Idahoans (DAAI) Plan. The ICfL did not receive full spending authority from the Idaho Legislature for the federally funded DAAI Plan in the upcoming fiscal year. This impacts the scope of projects and opportunities tied to the plan. Notably, the ICfL will not be allowed to open another round of monetary subgrants in fiscal year 2026. The ICfL does anticipate being able to award the initial round of subgrants that opened in fall 2024.

On Thursday, April 10, the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority Board of Directors voted on proposed guidelines for the PBDA’s Digital Skills and Community Capacity Program. The program, funded by the federal Digital Equity Act’s State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, will provide $25 million for digital inclusion programs in the Keystone State. The eleven-member board voted 9-1 to approve the guidelines, with one abstention.

The North Carolina Department of Information Technology announced the launch of the state’s $17 million Digital Opportunity grant program, which will expand North Carolinians’ access to digital devices, help desk and technical support, as well as digital skills and online safety programs.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society launched four new research projects to examine a variety of barriers to building and using broadband. Since the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021, states have been working to achieve universal internet access through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) and the Digital Equity Act (DEA) programs.

On the BEAD front, Illinois has completed the review of all qualifying Wave 1 applications and is moving into the deconfliction phase. “Deconfliction” is the process of de-scoping applications that overlap with higher scoring proposals. As Illinois enters the deconfliction phase, approximately 100 applications are tentatively eligible for preliminary award, and another 95 will have the opportunity to submit deconflicted proposals before the end of Wave 1. All preliminarily awarded projects will be notified by mid-May.

The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO), under the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, developed the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan to complement broadband infrastructure programs already underway in the state, including the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas (BOOT) program and the state’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Texas has not yet received its federal State Digital Equity Capacity funding and—on March 4, 2025—BDO paused all grants and contracts to implement the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan.

The Senate Commerce Committee convened on March 27 to consider Arielle Roth, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) kicked off the hearing voicing his strong support for for Roth: "As folks here know, Arielle is an esteemed member of the Republican staff on this committee.

On March 5th, 16 National Digital Inclusion Alliance affiliates from across the country, half of the NDIA team, and several of NDIA’s partners spent the day on Capitol Hill to share with Congress how NDIA’s 2,000 affiliates help people in their districts get and stay online safely. In total, we had 65 meetings with staff from the Senate and House offices of 23 states.