In a letter to Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) urged the department to coordinate its new broadband programs with the other federal agencies supporting broadband deployment. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 added the Department of the Treasury to the list of agencies tackling the digital divide. That law tasked Treasury with distributing $350 billion to state and local governments to “make necessary investments in…broadband infrastructure.” It also established a $10 billion Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund that will allow states, territories, and Tribal governments to “carry out critical capital projects directly enabling work, education, and health monitoring, including remote options.” As Treasury launches its new programs, Sen Wicker urged the Department to follow Congress’s direction and coordinate its efforts with the other federal agencies supporting broadband deployment. Treasury needs to ensure that its funding goes to communities that are truly unserved. This can be achieved by coordinating funding decisions to make sure funding is not going to areas that already have broadband service or pending funding, as well as by reaching a consensus definition of “unserved.” Absent these steps, the country will continue to face a digital divide as millions of Americans will continue to live without the benefits of a broadband connection.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Full Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) wrote to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration urging the agency to fulfill its statutory role and provide needed leadership in the management of federal spectrum use. In a letter to NTIA Acting Assistant Secretary Evelyn Remaley, the legislators said that Congress specifically designated NTIA as the authority on federal spectrum management to ensure agencies do not improperly elevate their own spectrum needs over others. Allowing a single agency with significant spectrum needs to manage both its and other agencies’ spectrum resources would risk inefficient use of this resource, they wrote, emphasizing that NTIA’s job is to resolve conflicts in consultation with the President. The letter comes as the Committee leaders wait to receive the results of their inquiry to the Government Accountability Office seeking recommendations on how NTIA can improve its spectrum management process.