dbeard@dominionpost.com

MORGANTOWN – A $9 million federal grant to the state Economic Development Department recently got DOGE’d. But the department and Gov. Patrick Morrisey both failed to answer questions about it.

The $9,011,588 grant came from the U.S Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration to support the state’s digital equity program. DOGE gives the termination date as May 9 and notes a total savings of $8,791,067.90.

The $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, passed in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was intended to expand internet access for certain disadvantaged populations, according to the Associated Press. “It gave states and tribes flexibility to deliver high-speed internet access to families that could not afford it, computers to kids who did not have them, telehealth access to older adults in rural areas, and training and job skills to veterans.”

But President Trump announced in late May his intention to end it, AP reported.

USASpending shows that the grant began Dec. 1, 2024 and was slated to run through Nov. 30, 2029.

Its stated purpose was to implement West Virginia’s digital equity plan. Among its missions: launching digital skills and local digital equity planning programs; a piloting program to supply laptops; and collecting data on such things as number of covered populations served, total number served, and personal testimony of participants.

The grant description said, “The proposed projects will result in narrowing the digital divide, improved access to digital resources, and increased accessibility and impact initiatives for community development.”

Morrisey and the Economic Development Department failed to respond to three inquiries sent to each on two separate days.

In early January, echoing Trump, Morrisey issued an executive order eliminating DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – from state government. DEI opponents generally view it as a form of reverse racism.

Among the questions we asked Morrisey and the department were if the grant termination was tied to DEI opposition, what the impact of the grant termination might be, and if the state would continue the digital equity program via some other means.

The general consensus is that West Virginia’s broadband access challenges are tied to terrain and the state’s rural nature, and we asked Morrisey and the department how those issues factor into the aims of the digital equity plan – getting no answer, of course.

We also asked about the difference between the full grant amount and the listed savings – $220,520.10 – and if some of the money has been spent, what on, and if they have to return it.

As it happens, on Thursday, Morrisey announced funding for broadband infrastructure deployment projects in 10 counties to facilitate the expansion of fiber-to-the-home broadband infrastructure. Morrisey said that with the installation of approximately 362 miles of fiber infrastructure, 2,897 locations will gain access to high-speed broadband. The counties are Preston, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Grant, Jackson, Lewis, Mason, Pendleton and Putnam.



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