Sens Cantwell, Schumer & Luján Call on Trump Administration to Stop Bureaucratic Delays and Immediately Release Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment Funding to States

Sens Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) called on the Trump Administration to immediately release the $42 billion allocated for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The program was designed with the goal of building high-speed, scalable, and reliable networks everywhere in the United States. “For six months, states have been waiting to break ground on scores of projects, held back only by the Commerce Department’s bureaucratic delays,” wrote the Senators in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and President Trump. “If states are forced to redo or rework their plans, they will not only miss this year’s construction season but next year’s as well, delaying broadband deployment by years. That’s why we urge the Administration to move swiftly to approve state plans, and release the $42 billion allocated to the states by the BEAD Program.”