164 State Lawmakers Urge Release of Billions in Obligated BEAD Funds
Withholding more than $20 billion in funds defies Congress’s mandate, lawmakers warn.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2025 – A bipartisan coalition of 164 state legislators from 28 states urged the Commerce Department on Tuesday to release billions of dollars in funding obligated to states under a federal infrastructure program.
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In a letter sent to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information Arielle Roth, the state legislators stressed that so-called “non-deployment” funds obligated under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program were mandated by Congress in the bipartisan infrastructure law of 2021.
The status of those dollars has been uncertain for months. After the Trump administration shifted BEAD guidance to prioritize lowest-cost deployment, officials began indicating that the unspent portion of state allocations might be treated as federal “savings” rather than funds states could reinvest in affordability, workforce, permitting, and other non-deployment needs.
That uncertainty persisted until last week, when Roth said she was “operating under the assumption that states will get to use their BEAD savings,” though she emphasized that no final decision has been made.
The lawmakers urged Commerce to settle the question quickly, warning that prolonged uncertainty will stall planning and undermine the approved strategies that states spent two years developing.
“Network deployment is BEAD’s top priority. But it is not its only priority,” the more than 160 state legislators wrote to Roth and Lutnick. “Congress wisely designed BEAD so that any funding not spent on deployment could be used for other “non-deployment” purposes.”
“Effective deployment depends on non-deployment. Without it, BEAD will fail to deliver the full value Congress intended and taxpayers deserve,” the letter reads.
Non-deployment funds are poised to support a range of critical activities, such as building AI infrastructure, streamlining permitting and pole attachment processes, developing the telecom workforce, improving middle mile and cellular networks, enhancing cybersecurity and emergency services, expanding telehealth and education opportunities, and fostering broadband adoption and affordability.
With more than $20 billion in leftover funding projected across all states, most will have hundreds of millions in obligated BEAD dollars remaining after deployment. Texas and North Carolina alone were expected to have more than $1 billion each.
However, since June, the administration has rescinded approval for all non-deployment activities, floated clawbacks to the Treasury, suggested redirecting funds toward federal permitting reforms, and even circulated a draft executive order that would deny non-deployment dollars to states with “onerous” artificial intelligence laws.
"We respectfully ask that the Department of Commerce act swiftly to release non-deployment funds so that states can complete the job of closing the digital divide," the signatories wrote.
"Bipartisan leaders at every level—governors, members of Congress, and state legislators—support unlocking these funds. To do otherwise would ignore the law and leave rural and disconnected Americans behind."
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