Commerce Secretary Defends BEAD Low-Cost Plans Amid Senate Scrutiny

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2024 – Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo was pressed by U.S. Senators on Wednesday on the department’s execution of a $42.5 billion broadband initiative, and whether the department’s practices are crossing into the territory of rate regulation.

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, confronted Raimondo with allegations that her department was setting prices for states involved in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program, being overseen by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration within the Commerce Department.