Broadband infrastructure funds must go to unserved areas, say GOP senators

Almost a dozen Republican senators serving on the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee urged the Biden administration to ensure broadband infrastructure funding through the Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds remains focused on the nation’s unserved areas.

The senators said they “are profoundly disappointed” that the Final Rule for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program issued on Jan. 6 by the U.S. Treasury Department lacks the proper guidance and constraints needed to ensure that federal funds are used efficiently and for their intended purpose, according to a Jan. 28 letter they sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“As history has demonstrated, absent such constraint, there remains a significant risk that taxpayer money will be wasted in areas where broadband infrastructure already exists and those without access to quality broadband service will not receive the full measure of needed assistance,” the senators wrote.

Among the lawmakers who signed the letter were Commerce Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS) and U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Thune (R-SD), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Susan Collins (R-ME).

“The final SLFRF rule increases the risk of overbuilding existing broadband investments,” they wrote, citing that it eliminates a key requirement that eligible broadband projects provide service to unserved or underserved households or businesses that lack access to minimum speeds of 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload. 

Instead, recipients may invest in projects designed to serve locations with “an identified need for additional broadband infrastructure investment,” according to the final rule — which they called “a vague and subjective standard” in their letter. 

Additionally, the final rule permits recipients to invest in projects regardless of whether there is an existing federal or state funding commitment, resulting in a final rule that could allow SLFRF recipients to fund projects in areas where broadband service is already or will be available, the senators wrote.

“Together, these changes will hinder the identification of unserved areas that need broadband service the most,” wrote the senators. “We urge you to ensure that SLFRF funds are focused on truly unserved areas to maximize the benefit to those Americans currently without broadband service.”