The Trump administration’s decision earlier this year not to release Digital Equity Act grant funds to states and nonprofit groups working to bridge the digital divide has meant disruption or cancellation of programs helping people with limited internet skills get online, or learn to use the internet more effectively.
The $2.75 billion program was part of the 2021 infrastructure law and was meant to train people with limited online skills to do things like apply for a job online or use a health care portal. But President Trump labeled the program “racist,” and canceled grants that had already been awarded to state governments and nonprofit groups.
The Digital Equity Act included two pots of money – $1.4 billion for states to implement broadband access plans they had submitted to the federal government, and $1.25 billion in competitive grants awarded to nonprofit organizations or collaborations between multiple groups.
Unlike the Broadband Equity and Access Deployment (BEAD) program that funds internet infrastructure in areas of the country with limited physical internet access, the Digital Equity Act funds were meant to support skills training, often delivered to “digital navigators” in communities where online skills are lacking.
But the two programs, enacted at the same time during the Biden administration, were intended to work together, says Maggie Drummond-Bahl, senior director of digital equity and partnerships at the Maine Connectivity Alliance, a quasi-state agency that expected $5.7 million in Digital Equity Act funds to begin implementation of the state’s broadband access plan. The state was expected to contribute millions more.
“The most important thing to know about the Digital Equity Act is that Congress created it to be inextricably intertwined with our BEAD program. So if we only make sure that the wires pass every location in the state, then we’re only doing half of our job,” Drummond-Bahl said.
Impact on communities
For nonprofits whose mission includes job training or bringing the internet to people who don’t know how to use modern online apps and services, the loss of Digital Equity Act funds has made it difficult or impossible to proceed with planned programs.
Even in Central Texas, where high-tech is big business, service agencies like Goodwill had counted on the Digital Equity Act to reach more people.
“A lot of the resources in Austin are wonderful, but they’re not available outside the Austin area. So we had to limit what we planned on providing,” says Jaime Castleberry, director of grants at Goodwill Central Texas. The agency provides job training in fifteen counties.
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Castleberry says Goodwill Central Texas planned to spend $650,000 to expand online training into rural areas. She says those plans have been cut back significantly. The money was part of a larger Digital Equity Act grant awarded to Goodwill International.
In western North Carolina, which is still recovering from Hurricane Helene, Digital Equity Act money would have replenished funds that regional governments had used to help residents get back online after last fall’s storm.
Sara Nichols, who is energy and economic development program manager for Land of Sky Regional Council, a coalition of governments in western North Carolina, says the agency won a $7.7 million grant, along with several partner organizations, to expand training for underserved groups in the region.
“We saw gaps in how people are able to access the internet. But these community partners are really connected to how the people they serve in the populations struggle to get online and stay online,” Nichols said.
After the storm, residents needed internet access more than ever to file insurance claims or connect with services they couldn’t reach by car.
“We spent a lot of the money that we had putting those resources out back in the fall,” Nichols said. “Then we were really excited when we found out we were going to get this grant because it would help us continue to get our folks back online. But the money never came.”
Under fire from the administration
The preamble to the Digital Equity Act mentions eight groups the law is intended to serve. These “covered populations” are, according to the law:
• Aging individuals (60 and above)
• Incarcerated individuals, other than individuals who are incarcerated in a federal correctional facility
• Veterans
• Individuals with disabilities
• Individuals with a language barrier, including individuals who are English-learners; and have low levels of literacy
• Individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group
• Individuals who primarily reside in a rural area.
• Individuals who live in covered households
The mention of racial minorities in the law’s introductory material got the White House’s attention.
The president called the Digital Equity Act “racist” in May on Truth Social, even though none of the approved grants focused on specific racial groups, nor did they exclude others. Days later, grant recipients learned they would not receive the money they had been awarded.
Drew Garner, of the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, says the law’s name also contributed to the grant cancellations.
“So basically, the administration, they were going through any program, any law that had anything to do with equity, and attacking it,” Garner said.
Garner points out that, taken together, the Digital Equity Act’s “covered populations” include most people in the U.S.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the Digital Equity Act grant cancellations.
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance filed suit against the Trump administration in October, challenging termination of its $25.7 million grant. And a coalition of more than 20 states sued the administration in June for funds they had been promised.
Those lawsuits are ongoing.
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