Takeback

Ernst bill would send broadband grant money to Treasury for deficit reduction.

Credit: Getty Images | Jeffrey Coolidge

A Senate Republican has drafted legislation that would effectively cut a $42 billion broadband deployment program in half.

The bill would complement the Trump administration overhaul of the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. The administration required states to rewrite their grant plans, reducing the overall projected spending and diverting some of the money from fiber projects to satellite.

The result is that over $21 billion is projected to be left over after money is allocated to projects that expand broadband access. Current US law allows nondeployment funds to be used for other broadband-related purposes, like providing Wi-Fi and Internet-capable devices to US residents. But a draft bill by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) would change the law to redirect all the remaining money to the US Treasury for deficit reduction.

Ernst doesn’t appear to have formally filed the bill yet. But the draft bill was leaked and published last week by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. We contacted Ernst’s office yesterday and will update this article if we get a response.

The bill is likely to escalate a conflict between the US government and states over the downsizing of a program that was designed to bring high-speed broadband to all unserved homes in the country. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, a Republican, previously urged the Trump administration to make all the leftover money available to states.

Taking the money back

The 2021 US law that created the BEAD program encourages spending the full $42 billion. The law says that after approving a state’s plan, the NTIA “shall make available to the eligible entity the remainder of the grant funds allocated.” Eligible entity means a US state or territory.

Ernst’s bill proposes deleting that provision and replacing it with a directive to give each state and territory “the portion of those remaining funds that have been designated for a specific purpose in the final proposal” and “deposit in the general fund of the Treasury, for the sole purpose of deficit reduction, the portion of those remaining funds that have not been designated for a specific purpose in the final proposal.”

The BEAD law is clear that the money can be used for more than sending subsidies to Internet service providers. The law says BEAD money can be allocated for connecting eligible community anchor institutions; data collection, broadband mapping, and planning; installing Internet and Wi-Fi infrastructure or providing reduced-cost broadband to multi-family buildings; and providing affordable Internet-capable devices.

The current law also says that if a state fails to use its full allocation, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) “shall reallocate the unused amounts to other eligible entities with approved final proposals.” The law gives the NTIA chief latitude to spend the money for “any use determined necessary… to facilitate the goals of the Program.”

Arielle Roth, who has overseen the BEAD overhaul in her role as head of the NTIA, has said she’s open to sending the remaining funds to states. Roth said in an October 28 speech that the NTIA is “considering how states can use some of the BEAD savings—what has commonly been referred to as nondeployment money—on key outcomes like permitting reform” but added that “no final decisions have been made.” The Ernst bill would take that decision out of the NTIA’s hands.

States still waiting after Biden plans thrown out

After Congress created BEAD, the Biden administration spent about three years developing rules and procedures for the program and then evaluating plans submitted by each US state and territory. The process included developing new maps that, while error-prone due to false submissions by ISPs, provided a more accurate view of broadband coverage gaps than was previously available.

By November 2024, the Biden administration had approved initial funding plans submitted by every state and territory. But the Trump administration rewrote the program rules, eliminating a preference for fiber and demanding lower-cost deployments.

States that could have started construction in summer 2025 had to draft new plans and keep waiting for the grant money. The Trump administration is also telling states that they must exempt ISPs from net neutrality and price laws in order to obtain grant funding.

As for when the long-delayed grants will be distributed, Roth said the NTIA is “on track to approve the majority of state plans and get money out the door this year.”

Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry.