June 16, 2021

Dear Governor,

On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), I am pleased to provide you with our new report, “The Folly of Government-Owned Networks.”

As Congress considers whether to provide more funding for broadband, with a preference for a single technology (fiber) and a single provider (government-owned networks), this report suggests that federal, state, and local governments should instead consider enacting laws and regulations that are vendor and technology neutral, making it easier for the private sector to expand its reach in underserved and unserved communities, and stay out of the way of the incredible progress that has been made in broadband service and reach.  The report also notes that the $100 billion broadband proposal in the American Jobs Plan is 14 times larger than the $7.2 billion provided for broadband in the Obama-Biden stimulus, which was rife with wasteful spending.  Since tens of billions of dollars are already available for broadband from the American Rescue Plan and other initiatives, the report suggests that the Jobs Plan proposal is duplicative and unnecessary, especially if the funds are directed to government-owned networks.  A copy of the report may be found at https://www.cagw.org/reporting/government-owned-networks.

If you have any questions about this report or would like a copy of the report mailed to you, please contact either Eric Maus at emaus@cagw.org or Deborah Collier at dcollier@cagw.org.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CAGW