The federal government has canceled a $5.3 million grant that Vermont planned to use to provide universal access to reliable internet service.
The Digital Equity Capacity Grant was intended to support Vermont’s Digital Equity Plan, outlined in March 2024.
“Vermont’s DE Program was going to improve the lives of Vermonters who can’t access the internet—whether because they can’t afford devices or don’t have the skills to take advantage of all the opportunities that come with being connected,” Vermont Community Broadband Board Executive Director Christine Hallquist said in a press release from the organization. “Taking this funding away now will severely limit our work and will mean many Vermonters will be left behind.”
The Digital Equity Program addresses barriers to broadband internet, telehealth care and digital literacy access. 95% of Vermonters can identify with one or more of the prioritized demographics for targeted digital equity initiatives, according to Vermont’s Digital Equity Plan.
President Donald Trump ordered the grant’s cancellation. In a May 9 letter from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Darren Olson, the institute’s grants management officer, said the president determined that the Digital Equity Capacity Program was created and administered using “unconstitutional racial preferences.”
The Vermont Community Broadband Board is exploring legal options to oppose the cancellation and has contacted the State Attorney General’s Office, according to its website.
“Without targeted investments in digital access and literacy, many Vermonters will be unable to access the resources necessary for job training, career advancement, and economic mobility, ultimately deepening existing disparities and limiting opportunities for economic growth,” the board’s digital equity officer, Britaney Watson, said in the release.
Vermont’s implementation of the Digital Equity Act, passed under the Biden administration, would provide devices for people facing financial barriers, as well as online training programs to prepare Vermonters for remote work. The program would have also awarded subgrants to local organizations working to provide internet accessibility throughout the state, according to the release.
A Sept. 30th study by the Center on Rural Innovation found that rural areas with higher broadband adoption and more small broadband service providers have stronger, more dynamic local economies. They reported that rural counties with fiber broadband adoption rates of over 80% have significant advantages over those with low adoption, including 213% higher business growth, higher self-employment growth, gross domestic product growth and per capita income growth.
The broadband board said in the release that it will continue to work with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and Vermont’s congressional delegation to determine their next legal, political and programmatic steps in continuing their digital equity efforts.
