Georgia Lawmakers Urge Reversal of Cancelled Digital Equity Grants
NTIA’s ‘arbitrary termination’ has stalled $46M for digital skills training, lawmakers wrote.
WASHINGTON, August 20, 2025 – Seven Democratic lawmakers from Georgia urged the Commerce Department to reverse its cancellation of grants that would help bring internet access skills to underserved communities across the state.
The group consists of Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, along with Representatives David Scott, Hank Johnson, Lucy McBath, Nikema Williams, and Sanford Bishop. Together, the lawmakers sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Acting Administrator for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Adam Cassady on July 17.
“We write to express our strong opposition to the Department of Commerce’s abrupt and illegal decision to terminate the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program and the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, as authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021,” Ossoff and the group wrote in their opening remark.
“This decision ignores congressional intent, undermines Georgia communities where the digital divide remains a significant barrier to opportunity, and violates the public trust,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers argued that Georgians in both rural and urban communities relied on the $2.75 billion appropriated by Congress under the IIJA to begin closing the digital divide, helping millions of residents across the state find jobs, access telehealth services, and learn digital workforce skills to compete in the global economy.
In 2023, Digital Equity funding amounting to nearly $1.1 million was used to establish the Georgia Digital Equity Plan, a bipartisan initiative that reached over 5,000 residents in underserved counties. Local organizations in various counties had pending grant applications worth $46 million for projects to provide digital skills training, outreach to seniors, and more inclusive broadband deployment, all of which have been stalled due to NTIA’s “arbitrary termination.”
“The administration’s characterization of this vital program as a ‘woke handout based on race’ reflects a strong misunderstanding of the goal of these programs and who benefits from its funding,” the lawmakers wrote. “Seniors, Veterans, low-income families, Tribal and rural communities, people with disabilities, and other digitally underserved groups all qualify for grants. In Georgia, this encompasses 86.7% of our constituents.”
The group pressed for the immediate reinstatement of the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program and State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program in order for the Department of Commerce and NTIA to “comply with both the letter and spirit of the IIJA,” they wrote.
“Georgia families, students, veterans, seniors, and small businesses cannot wait any longer,” the lawmakers contended. “Ending these grants will leave Georgia communities stranded and in the digital dark. They deserve equitable access to opportunity and this decision threatens to take that away.”
Eight members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation sent a similar letter in July, urging Commerce to reinstate digital equity grants in their state.
Member discussion