CASPER, Wyo.— Wyoming’s junior U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis joined other Senate Republicans in a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris criticizing her leadership role in the slow rollout of federal dollars aimed at expanding internet access in rural America.
President Joe Biden authorized the $42.45 billion for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program as part of a $65 billion infrastructure bill in 2021. In a letter released by Lummis’s office on Monday, the senator said the program has failed “ to connect a single person to the internet” thus far.
A POLITICO report earlier this month details how federal conditions related to affordability, union participation and climate impact have forced states and telecom companies to renegotiate and resubmit their proposals. Thirty-four states have been approved for funds, but their programs aren’t expected to launch in earnest until 2025.
Wyoming was approved for over $347 million to deploy or upgrade high-speed Internet networks in July after submitting the second version of its proposal.
A spokesperson for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration told POLITICO that the BEAD program is proceeding “on the 10-year timeline Congress intended.”
“By imposing burdensome climate change mandates on infrastructure projects, prioritizing government-owned networks over private investment, mandating the use of unionized labor in states, and seeking to regulate broadband rates, your administration has caused unnecessary delays leaving millions of Americans unconnected,” the Republicans’ letter said.
On the affordability requirement, Wyoming’s plan says consumer costs will not exceed $70 per month.
