Senate Bill Would Shield BEAD Grants from Federal Taxation

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2025 – There is bipartisan support for a plan to make sure broadband grants are solely used for deployment purposes.

Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan. Monday introduced bipartisan legislation that would ensure broadband deployment grants funded through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and the American Rescue Plan are not taxable income for companies.

The bill would get rid of grant money being recycled back to the government through corporate taxes, and ensure that providers will be able to direct the entirety of its funds toward broadband projects.

Warner and Moran first introduced the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act back in 2022, which also attempted to exempt deployment grants from federal corporate income taxes, however the bill did not make it through Congress. 

Sen. Moran hinted at introducing similar legislation during Howard Lutnick’s confirmation hearing in early February. “And it seems to me that if you want the BEAD grant program to work and actually get the dollars to the people across the country... reducing the amount of money that’s available by taxing the grant makes no sense,” Moran said at the hearing.

Sen. Warner echoed this same sentiment in a statement regarding the new bill. “Taxing these broadband investment awards is counter-productive, and will ultimately diminish efforts to give more Americans access to high-speed internet,” Warner said.

Co-sponsors of the bill include Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., among others.