‘Leave it alone’: Amid BEAD review, state leaders plead for stability

A bevy of House Republicans lined up at a recent subcommittee hearing to bemoan the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, minutes after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced he would conduct a “rigorous review” of the effort to close the digital divide. While that hearing turned into another Washington food fight, among state officials, BEAD still appears to have plenty of bipartisan support. Their message to the federal government, Washington, D.C. and Congress is simple. “Leave it alone; let the states do what they've done,” said Missouri State Rep. Louis Riggs (R-5). “The feds could not do what the states have done." Some federal leaders appear supportive too. In a statement after Lutnick’s announcement, Sen Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said she favors “improving the program,” but does “not want to see West Virginia wait longer than is necessary or have to redo their proposals and application.”