With the review of a federal broadband deployment program underway by the U.S. Commerce Department, U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) joined 12 of his Republican colleagues in requesting that related “extraneous Biden-era regulations” be removed.
Specifically, the senators requested the removal of “restrictive labor requirements,” provisions favoring government-owned networks over private investment, and guidelines that prioritize certain technologies over others and contradict congressional pursuit of tech-neutrality within the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which aims to expand internet access to Americans in rural areas and other unserved communities.
“Under your leadership, the BEAD program can finally fulfill its long overdue mission and ensure taxpayer dollars are not spent funding extraneous, burdensome regulations,” wrote Sen. Young and his colleagues in a March 27 letter sent to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“Eliminating these obstacles will empower states to work closely with broadband providers and accelerate deployment, maximize resources, and reach truly unserved and underserved communities without any more delay caused by unnecessary government interference,” according to the letter, which was also signed by lawmakers including U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and John Curtis (R-UT).
Sen. Young and his colleagues pointed out that Republican senators previously raised concerns with the Biden administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) about its implementation of the BEAD program.
“Specifically, NTIA ignored congressional direction and acted inconsistently with its statutory authority in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), filling the program with onerous regulations that prevented the quick, efficient deployment of broadband and resulted in not a single household being connected to the internet,” they wrote. “Furthermore, despite the IIJA’s explicit prohibition on broadband rate regulation, NTIA exceeded its statutory authority and attempted to enact rate regulations anyway.”
These “unnecessary bureaucratic barriers” slow down broadband deployment, increase costs, and ultimately run contrary to the purpose of the BEAD program and should be removed, wrote the senators.