Nearly three years after the Biden-Harris administration introduced a $42 billion initiative to improve internet access in rural areas, the program has yet to launch in several states, frustrating rural voters, Politico reported Wednesday.
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD), a key component of President Joe Biden’s mammoth 2021 infrastructure law, promised to deliver high-speed internet to more rural communities across America. But three years later, a number of states are still waiting for their applications to be approved, leaving rural residents unlikely to see tangible results ahead of Election Day.
The delays spell trouble for Vice President Harris as the project she once touted as a success is now becoming a liability for her presidential campaign. Last month, Biden and Harris praised the program in an appeal to rural voters, a traditionally Republican stronghold. Harris’s effort to win over those voters appears to have all but backfired just two months until the presidential election.
"People need to see it," said Lynlee Thorne, a political director for Democratic campaign group Rural Groundgame. "[The internet buildout has] got to be a lot more concrete. We’re past the point of being able to earn people’s votes based on the status quo or just hope."
Virginia’s BEAD application was just approved in July, 10 months after its completion, while 16 other states are still waiting for approval. The program is not expected to launch in earnest until 2025, according to Politico.
Telecommunications companies are blaming the delays on a restrictive federal affordability requirement mandating that internet providers offer affordable rates to low-income households as a condition for receiving federal funding.
The Biden-Harris administration, meanwhile, has downplayed voters’ concerns, with a representative for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration claiming that the internet program is still on schedule. In his speech last month at the Democratic National Convention, Biden said his internet buildout was "not unlike what Roosevelt did with electricity."
Virginia state delegate Terry Kilgore said the delays are embarrassing for Democratic politicians trying to defend the program.
"It’s hard to address in a town hall or a tele-town hall when those questions come up," Kilgore told Politico. "You say, ‘Well, we’re still waiting on the federal government.’ And they go, ‘Oh, gosh, it’s been three, four years.’ It sort of puts egg on everybody’s face."
"I’ve done some meetings with local county leaders who are frustrated because they know that they’ve invested the money, they know it’s there, but the projects aren’t happening as fast as they want them to," said state Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D.), who chairs Virginia’s Broadband Advisory Council.
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