New York Hill Democrats Ask NTIA to Allow State to Retain BEAD Non-Deployment Funds
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and 15 other Democratic members of New York’s congressional delegation urged NTIA on Friday to allow the state “to retain and use BEAD non-deployment funds for broadband adoption.” BEAD’s non-deployment funding, which some estimates have found to account for $20 billion of the program’s $42.5 billion total, has faced challenges from the Trump administration and some congressional Republicans. President Donald Trump earlier this month issued an executive order that directs NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment BEAD funding for states that the administration determines have overly burdensome AI laws (see 2512120048).
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The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act “explicitly authorizes funds for a broad range of non-deployment activities, including accessibility, affordability, and digital readiness,” the New York Democrats said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth. But NTIA’s June 6 policy restructuring notice for the program, which required all states to resubmit their spending plans (see 2506060052), “strays from congressional intent by rescinding approval of all non-deployment activities approved in Initial Proposals, stating that they would ‘issue updated guidance in the future’ to clarify allowable non-deployment purposes.”
“As of today, the NTIA has still not issued guidance on how states may use non-deployment funds, nor have they clarified if states will be able to retain these funds after broadband deployment investments,” the Democratic lawmakers said. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and 13 other senators raised similar concerns last week (see 2512160055). Roth said earlier this month that the agency is “operating under the assumption states will get to use BEAD savings” but hasn’t made a final decision (see 2512020015).
“New York’s BEAD proposal will bolster broadband infrastructure across the state and reach nearly 54,000 unserved and underserved communities,” the Democratic lawmakers said Friday. “To fully ensure that all New Yorkers can participate in an increasingly digital era, they not only need access to broadband, but also access to affordable broadband, internet-enabled devices, and digital literacy programming to maximize internet connectivity.” They asked Lutnick and Roth to respond by Jan. 15.