The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program deployment effort is coming in far under budget. At the highest level, that’s a good thing. But good things don’t come without their own complexities. In this case, a political battle could evolve over who controls the remaining BEAD funds.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick suggesting that states keep the excess funds and spend them on state-led AI-related programs.
“As the first state to submit our Final Proposal ahead of the September 4th deadline, we respectfully request that you continue to hew closely to the statute by directing that remaining BEAD allocations be invested in state-led initiatives, subject to NTIA review, that advance the following key national priorities.”
The italics and bold are Landry’s. The national priorities he referred to include the “White House Winning the Race, America’s AI Action Plan,” “American First Policy Initiatives” [sic], and “Make America Great Again Policies.”
While some of the big states have not weighed in, NewStreet Research Policy Advisor Blair Levin says only about 44% of appropriated funds have been deployed to perform the main function of the BEAD Program, which is connecting underserved and unserved areas.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is administering the BEAD Program, has not advised states on how they should allocate non-deployment funds. It has also been suggested, according to Levin’s research note, that the administration expects those funds to be returned to Washington.
“[W]e think the categories of AI (such as using funds to connect data centers) and American First (which includes workforce development, education and other forms of industry support) would be similar to how the states and the industry would like the funds spent,” Levin wrote.
It may be, though, that the full dynamic includes who spends the money as much as what it is spent on. There has long been a tension between the states and federal government. While the situation may not be as fraught when the state is of the same party as the administration, it still exists.
Levin says NewStreet Research expects that most governors will support Landry’s general position, though not the specific limits Landry suggests. In other words, they likely will want to keep the money within their state without being told precisely what to do with it.
Levin concludes that Landry’s suggestion opens the door to debate, and Lutnick may agree if enough Republican governors and congresspeople speak up. Republicans are not the only party interested in the fate of the non-deployment funds, of course. Last month, ten Democratic members of the House of Representatives asked the administration to clarify how non-deployment funds from the BEAD will be managed. Their letter was sent to Lutnick and Arielle Roth, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and head of the NTIA.
