Two more ways government manages to screw up subsidies
There’s more evidence in recent days that the federal government spends money in two ways — too quickly and too slowly.
Proof of both stems from programs that were initially part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Biden administration’s burst of late-pandemic spending.
The $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program and the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program were just two of hundreds of programs launched by the IIJA, which passed in 2021.
Together, they are reminders of how little precision, coordination and restraint went into spending trillions of tax dollars. They are also examples of how difficult it is for the government to discontinue what was initially promised as one-time spending.
Too quickly
The original goal of the Affordable Connectivity Program was a one-time appropriation by Congress to subsidize internet access for people living in households at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The program also offered $100 stipends for people to buy a mobile phone or laptop.
The Biden administration expanded the program in 2022 to allow schools and libraries to get discounts for the equipment needed to provide Wi-Fi service on school buses or off campus. And in 2023, under the Biden administration, the Federal Communications Commission took steps to make the funding permanent.
On Tuesday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Republican commissioner Olivia Trusty voted to kill the program. Anna Gomez, the Democrat commissioner, voted to keep it.
The FCC issued a statement that said it “lacked legal authority for this expansion,” that the agency “failed to properly justify its decision,” and that the program represented “unreasonable policy choices” and “invited waste, fraud, and abuse.”
“Today’s decision corrects course,” Carr said in a prepared statement. “It restores the FCC’s commitment to following the law as written and respecting the intent of Congress.”
Congress did not intend to subsidize internet access away from classrooms and libraries, Carr said.
“Moreover,” he said, “giving kids unrestricted access to the internet while riding the school bus is bad policy. Parents have a right to decide when — and how — their kids access the internet. Wi-Fi on school buses removes both the supervision that helps keep kids safe and the parental control that protects them from harmful or inappropriate content.”
Too slowly
The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program was meant to connect every American in unserved or underserved areas to high-speed internet at a critical time.
More than two years after the federal government finally conceded that the COVID-19 emergency was over, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission last month finally submitted a plan to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to spend more than $1 million bringing internet service to 74,000 homes and businesses.
While Gov. Tony Evers blamed the Trump Administration this summer for forcing the state to redo its grant proposal, Biden era overregulation had already done its damage.
Evers acknowledged that even with swift approval by the NTIA, broadband work funded by the program will not begin until deep into 2026.
Mark Lisheron is the Managing Editor of the Badger Institute.
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