At least 20 states have reportedly lost digital equity grant funding
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By
Chris Teale
States across the country have had their grant funding pulled after President Donald Trump announced he was ending the program. Program supporters say they are plotting their next steps.
Within days of President Donald Trump announcing on social media that he was ending the federal digital equity grant program, it looks to be consigned to history.
All information about the program, which provides funds to help states close the digital divide by building residents’ digital literacy, improving the online accessibility of social services and letting rural communities measure their needs, has disappeared from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s website.
Spokespeople for NTIA, which administers the $2.75 billion program that was part of the 2021 infrastructure law, did not respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, states are starting to see their funding cut off. The State Educational Technology Directors Association said at least 20 have seen planning and capacity grant funding pulled by NTIA in light of the president’s order.
A spokesperson for the Vermont Community Broadband Board confirmed in an email that the state had its grant funding award of just over $5 million to help implement its digital equity plan terminated on May 9.
In a letter to the state the spokesperson provided to Route Fifty, Darren Olson, a grants management officer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, told Vermont that the grant was being terminated as it “is unconstitutional and grants issued pursuant to it were created with, and administered using, impermissible and unconstitutional racial preferences.”
Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed on that finding, he said.
Olson also warned the state that if it continues with its project initiatives, “you do so at your own risk and will not be reimbursed for any project costs incurred.” He added that the decision is final and there is no right to an administrative appeal.
The California Department of Technology shared online that it had received an identical letter, while Lisa Von Bargen, deputy director of the Alaska Broadband Office, confirmed the same to Route Fifty in an email.
It is a similar story in Washington. Aaron Wheeler, director of the state’s broadband office, said during a press conference last week that he had received a similar letter cancelling its $15.9 million grant award. Wheeler said it was a “serious setback” that would have “significant consequences,” including much slower implementation of its digital equity plan.
“[Losing the funds] undermines our digital equity plan’s goals and perpetuates existing disparities that fall most heavily on our state's rural communities,” Wheeler said during the press conference. “Washington State's digital equity plan relies on this federal funding as a pillar to implement its strategies. These strategies are designed to address gaps in existing digital inclusion efforts and align with statewide priorities to improve outcomes in areas such as economic and workforce development, education, healthcare and civic engagement.”
The Maine Connectivity Authority said that the federal government had terminated $35 million in grants to help the state build digital skills and online safety, especially for rural and low-income residents, veterans and small businesses. The state said 130,000 people would have been served by the three grants.
“These programs are not abstract policy initiatives — they are lifelines for thousands of Maine residents who depend on digital access for education, healthcare, employment and basic communication,” Kristina Egan, executive director of the Greater Portland Council of Governments, which was slated to receive $11 million, said in a statement. “The digital divide is not just a technological challenge – it's a fundamental issue of access and opportunity. Maine cannot afford to take steps backward.”
It is a similar story in Idaho, where the state’s Commission for Libraries said the implementation of the Digital Access for All Idahoans has been cancelled due to the loss of $6.3 million in federal grant funds. Wisconsin, too, saw its grant funding terminated. Every state had a Digital Equity Plan approved by NTIA under former President Joe Biden, and observers lamented the loss of that work due to Trump’s decision.
“We've never had plans like that in every state,” Angela Siefer, executive director at the nonprofit National Digital Inclusion Alliance, said during the press conference last week. “We should have done these a long time ago, and we should have implemented them a long time ago. The integration of technology into our lives, it's not new, so we need this now. The states cannot implement their plans.”
The future of states’ digital equity efforts looks murky at best. Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher said in a statement it is “exploring its options to respond to grant termination” and “evaluating how to best proceed with critical programming and investments currently underway through our statewide digital equity strategy.” The Wisconsin Public Service Commission said it and Gov. Tony Evers “remain committed to the grant program's objectives,” but are “working to understand the impacts that termination of this program will have on statewide internet adoption and digital skills.”
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat and the architect of the Digital Equity Act, said during last week’s press conference that she wants her colleagues to step up, or else legal action could ensue.
“All this will take is for Republicans to join us and speak up for their states,” she said. “All 50 states put together a plan and asked for the resources, and I cannot believe there aren't Republican governors out there that are going to join with us to fight back on this. That's one way to do this, and the other way is through the courts, and I'm sure that that will happen as well.”