WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) joined U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Senate colleagues in sending a letter urging Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Arielle Roth to preserve states’ ability to use their non-deployment Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds consistent with congressional intent and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The letter also requests NTIA to provide a public accounting of unspent BEAD funds for each state, clarification of NTIA’s current interpretation of allowable “non-deployment” uses, and a timetable for revised guidance on non-deployment funds.
“We write to request the agency’s attention to a major question emerging within the BEAD Program,” wrote the Senators. “Under the latest BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity, many states likely will — or already do — have leftover BEAD allocations. Given the intent of Congress that these resources be used to expand broadband access nationwide, we respectfully seek clarity on how NTIA will ensure proper stewardship and redistribution of non-deployment funds to close the digital divide.”
Read the full letter HERE.
Senator Rosen has been a strong advocate for expanding high-speed internet access in Nevada and nationwide. She worked across party lines to help create the BEAD program, having helped write the broadband section of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which secured $65 billion in nationwide investments to make high-speed internet affordable for Americans. She also successfully pushed the Federal Communications Commission to update its deeply flawed National Broadband Map and ensure Nevada receives its fair share of BEAD funding. After reports that the Trump Administration was rescinding the approval of BEAD funding, Senator Rosen blasted the Trump Administration for its wrongheaded decision and announced that she would block nominees to the Department of Commerce.
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