Texas May Return $1 Billion in BEAD Funding to Treasury

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2025 – In an unexpected development, Texas may be handing back as much as $1 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment funds to the federal government.

Glenn Hegar, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, revealed in a March 4 letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that the state could return these funds to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Hegar cited both state-led initiatives and private sector expansion in the reasoning for no longer needing the total $3.3 billion in BEAD money allocated by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the Biden administration.