U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which sets federal broadband policy, applauded today’s announcement by President Biden that $42.45 billion in funding is being distributed to states to expand affordable, reliable, high-speed internet service to communities, including $1.2 billion to the State of Washington where 264,000 households still lack access.

“The COVID pandemic laid bare just how crucial fast and affordable internet access is for all Washingtonians. But for more than a quarter of a million households in the State of Washington, broadband remains inaccessible,” Sen. Cantwell said. “This major new broadband investment will help ensure that more Washingtonians – from patients booking a telehealth appointment, to students filing an assignment, to small business owners connecting with customers – are able to fully participate in our 21^st Century economy.”

The funding – the largest internet investment in history – was made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which created the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which the Senate Commerce Committee oversees.

Currently, more than 8.5 million American households nationwide lack access to high-speed internet service and millions more struggle with limited or unreliable internet options. Last year, the Biden Administration launched the Internet for All initiative with $65 billion from the BIL, $25 billion from the American Rescue Plan and several other high-speed internet programs. With these allocations and other Biden administration investments, all 50 states, D.C. and the territories will have the resources to connect every resident and small business to reliable, affordable high-speed internet by 2030.

View the state-by-state $42 billion breakdown here.

Click to see a state funding map by the Washington Post

Sen. Cantwell is a longtime champion of expanding broadband access to communities nationwide. As chair of the Commerce Committee, Sen. Cantwell supported the inclusion of the BEAD program and championed the Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Grant Program as part of the historic $65 billion broadband investment in the BIL in 2021. Last week, she joined the U.S. Department of the Treasury to announce the approval of $195.7 million for high-speed internet projects in Washington state through the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund. In August 2022, Senator Cantwell introduced the bipartisan Grant to Rapidly Invest and Deploy Broadband, or GRID Broadband Act, which would spur investment in a nationwide middle-mile backbone along the nation’s existing electricity grid and help provide affordable high-speed Internet options.