Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen this week to clarify rules on how state and local governments can use American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to expand high-speed internet access. He especially seeks flexibility in how governments can use the money to help close the digital divide.
The ARP authorized the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund and the $10 billion Capital Projects Fund for state, local, territorial, and tribal governments. Both funds can be used for various infrastructure projects, including expanding access to affordable and reliable broadband to communities hit hard by COVID-19.
However, interim guidance released by the Treasury would have limited broadband expansion efforts, according to Van Hollen. While the Treasury has since provided some clarity, he urged the department to provide maximum flexibility in the final rule so that state and local governments can use the money to ensure affordability of broadband in addition to access.
“Although infection rates are dropping and many localities have lifted stay-at-home orders, the reliance on high-speed broadband is unlikely to decrease. Due to obsolete technology, market forces, and a lack of competition, some residents’ options [a]re limited to low-quality high-cost services,” Van Hollen wrote in a letter to Yellen.
“The Department should clarify in the rules that eligible projects are not required to solely provide service to unserved and underserved locations and that if a jurisdiction lacks unserved or underserved areas, that jurisdiction may still use funds for broadband infrastructure. Eligible projects should also include areas with existing wireline 25/3 Mbps service to meet project feasibility requirements, provided that they prioritize addressing the needs of residents disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he asserted.
He doesn’t believe the Treasury Department should limit localities to the FCC definition of “served” because the data used by the agency is “deeply flawed,” he noted.
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