Pritzker urges feds to release $1B in broadband funds to Illinois
[May 13, 2026]
By Maggie Dougherty
CHICAGO — Gov. JB Pritzker sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary
Howard Lutnick on Tuesday, urging him to approve Illinois’ proposal for
federal broadband infrastructure funds.
The $1 billion proposal would connect roughly 383,000 people, mostly in
rural areas, to high-speed internet.
However, Illinois and California lag months behind other states in the
approval process — leading to speculation that the funds have been
withheld from the two blue states for political punishment or leverage.
Those funds were previously allocated to states in 2023 under the $42.5
billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD, program
established by the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,
passed by Congress in 2021.
To receive funding, states were required to submit a five-year plan and
proposal identifying under- and unserved communities, solicit feedback
from the public, and then file for final approval.
But midway through the process, Lutnick announced the Commerce
Department would review the program, which he claimed had “not connected
a single person to the internet” due to “woke mandates,” favoritism and
burdensome regulations.
He vowed to work with states and territories to cut red tape and get
households connected quickly at the lowest cost possible.
Last June, the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, or NTIA, which oversees the approval of BEAD proposals,
released a policy notice outlining restructuring for the program and
creating new delays.
An audit by the Government Accountability Office later found the move
had violated the Congressional Review Act by failing to approve the
changes with Congress, but the agency has not since walked back the
changes.
It gave states until September to comply with the changes and committed
to reviewing all final proposals within 90 days of submission.
But, more than seven months since Illinois submitted its final proposal,
the review is still not complete. California is the only other state or
territory that still has not received approval, according to NTIA’s BEAD
Progress Dashboard.
“At this point, it seems unusual and targeted that the U.S. Department
of Commerce had the capacity to complete in-depth reviews and approvals
for every single state except for Illinois and California,” Pritzker
wrote in his letter to Lutnick. “Illinois families and businesses in
rural areas are the ones paying the price.”
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Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to reporters at an event in Springfield on
Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Capitol News Illinois file photo by Jerry
Nowicki)
AI compliance
Potentially complicating the release of funds is an executive order
signed by President Donald Trump last December. The order sought to
shield tech companies from state laws regulating artificial
intelligence. It targeted state laws, including several in Illinois,
that Trump said are inconsistent with national policy on AI.
In the order, Trump directed Lutnick to explore whether BEAD funding
could be withheld from states with “onerous” AI laws, a move Pritzker’s
office at the time called “reckless” and said “doesn’t protect anyone
but the wealthy.”
An NTIA spokesperson said in a statement that “NTIA is continuing to
work with Illinois to ensure its final BEAD plan delivers the benefit of
the bargain.”
The spokesperson did not address questions about the impact of Trump’s
executive order for AI compliance on the BEAD fund allocation.
‘Time is money’
Pritzker implored Lutnick to be guided by his decades of experience
working on Wall Street in understanding that “time is money” for
Illinois homes and businesses.
“Each passing day keeps over 383,000 Illinoisans and over 1,200 schools,
libraries, and hospitals disconnected,” Pritzker wrote.
“Patients are unable to access critical telemedicine services, students
cannot complete homework online, farmers are left without the necessary
tools to monitor crops, new businesses cannot leverage online platforms
and job seekers lose out on opportunities to support their families.”
Lutnick’s office did not respond to a request for comment by the time of
story publication.
When asked whether the attorney general might file a lawsuit challenging
the delay, a spokesperson for Pritzker said the state is evaluating “all
available options” to ensure Illinois receives the federal broadband
funding necessary to move projects forward.
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by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |
