US Senator Warner urging Treasury Department to ensure VA localities have time to use COVID-19 funding for use of broadband

Virginia US Senator Mark Warner is pushing the US Treasury Department to extend CARES Act funding beyond Dec. 30 for localities in the Commonwealth to utilize for Broadband use.

Congress previously appropriated $150 billion in a coronavirus relief fund that awarded states and localities funding to cover pandemic expenses not originally budgeted by local governments, but Warner says the Treasury Dept. is not giving clear guidance which has stalled on how localities can distribute funds by the allocation deadline, while localities have to obligate all their funds by Dec. 30.

Warner also said he has heard from local leaders in the state that unclear guidance has delayed obligating funding to broadband related projects, critical to rural areas that do not have reliable broadband access.

Warner has issued a letter to the Treasury Dept. to extend the obligation deadline and also publish more clear guidance on how states and localities can use these funds for broadband projects as long as they are finalized by the CARES Act deadline.