Six majority members of the House Commerce Committee sent a...
Six majority members of the House Commerce Committee sent a letter Wednesday to Rural Utilities Service Acting Administrator (RUS) John Padalino about their concerns with a Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) loan and grant given to Lake County, Minn. The letters…
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asked pointed questions about whether the loan and grant combination may have “skirted BIP eligibility requirements and placed taxpayer dollars at risk,” according to a committee news release. “We are concerned with suggestions that the BIP program may have been used to overbuild existing systems rather than extend service to areas that legitimately meet the underserved/unserved eligibility requirements,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.; House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore.; Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Tim Murphy, R-Pa.; and Michael Burgess, R-Texas. “Materials reviewed by committee staff also raise questions as to whether RUS adequately considered the financial viability of the Lake County project before committing $66.4 million in government funding,” they said. The lawmakers asked Padalino to answer detailed questions about the agency’s application review process for the project and submit a copy of all communications and agreements related to Lake County’s application. At least one Minnesota company had complained that Lake County’s BIP loan application appeared to be fraudulent, was designed to set the county up for financial failure and allowed outside consultants hand-picked by local officials to buy the fiber-to-the-home systems at a discount (CD March 17/11 p6). Walden, Upton and Murphy also urged in a separate letter that Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro conduct an analysis of all the work that had been completed under the BIP program to identify any other incidents of fraud, waste and abuse.