The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee received testimony from Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick regarding the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Senator Gary Peters highlighted concerns about delays in the release of funding and suggested that the Commerce Department's extension of the final proposal deadline could hinder broadband access initiatives. Peters emphasized the potential for wasted resources and time if states are forced to restart their bidding processes, while Lutnick pointed to previous inefficiencies under the Biden administration and proposed a new 90-day application framework.
"One of Congress's biggest bipartisan achievements, I think, over the past few years, was the passage of the BEAD program, which gives funds to individual states to connect every citizen to the fastest, most reliable internet possible."
"Forcing states to start a process over would waste millions of dollars, add months, potentially years of delays to shovel-ready broadband projects that are ready to go this summer."
"We are going to say: within the next 90 days, as long as you are technologically agnostic and you agree to provide the broadband at the cheapest price per user, then we will get it done within 90 days for the application and out the door by the end of calendar year 2025."
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