January 2022

State lawmakers should be thinking about how to go on one-time spending sprees — such as funding infrastructure projects, including broadband, largely underwritten by the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. In recent years, state programs have received applications in excess of available funds, says Anna Read, senior officer for the Pew Charitable Trusts Broadband Access Initiative. “State grant programs to date have focused on expansion of last-mile infrastructure to unserved areas,” she says.

This is the right decision. It will ensure that the people of California will continue to have unfettered internet access, blocks internet providers from discriminating against websites for financial or political gain, and reduces the chance that their customers will be ripped off.

In a letter to Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, 11 Republican senators raised concerns regarding the recently-announced final rule for broadband infrastructure funding through the Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds. We are profoundly disappointed that Treasury’s final rule lacks the proper guidance and constraints needed to ensure that federal funds are used efficiently and for their intended purpose.