Federal cancellation of digital equity grant removes $10.6 million for Vermont broadband effort

Christine Houltless, executive director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board, told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on May 22 that a federal decision to terminate the Digital Equity Capacity Grant removed $5.3 million already issued to Vermont and put a potential additional $5.3 million at risk, forcing the board into what she called “crisis mode.”

The loss, Houltless said, comes from a $2.75 billion federal program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; $840 million of that program had already been distributed nationally, and the remaining allocation would have included Vermont’s additional $5.3 million. “Any expense that occurred after May 9, it comes out of our own pocket,” Houltless said, and she added, “we're not here to ask for money. That's the last thing I would wanna do right now with a position that we're all in.”

Nut graf: The termination cuts funding intended for digital skills, devices, subgrants to community organizations and capacity building tied to Vermont’s fiber buildout. VCBB officials warned the loss will reduce staffing and community subgrants, complicate adoption of newly built networks, and prompt the board to pursue legal and other responses while continuing unaffected infrastructure programs.

VCBB deputy director Rob Fish and Houltless told…