By
JAYME LOZANO CARVER/The Texas Tribune
The Texas Broadband Development Office placed a temporary hold Tuesday on all disbursements of billions of dollars in federal funds related to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, or BEAD.The hold comes after the office was accused of favoritism to certain companies, specifically Elon Musk’s Starlink, which led to lawmakers announcing an audit.In an email obtained by The Texas Tribune, the state broadband office shared with subgrantees that the hold was effective as of Monday, and will be in place “until further notice.” The office did not give a reason as to why the disbursements were paused.The office did not respond to The Tribune in time for publication.“No further action is required from subgrantees at this time,” the office said in the email. ”The BDO will provide additional guidance and updates as they become available.”
Last week, Comptroller Don Huffines announced a comprehensive internal review of his office, which includes the broadband office.Lawmakers began questioning the Broadband Office in June on how it doled out more than $3 billion in BEAD funding. During a Senate committee hearing, Sen. Charles Schwertner, a Republican from Georgetown, said his office heard about the concerns regarding taxpayer money, including how much money was disbursed up-front for the projects. While other providers were only expected to receive 10% of the grant money to start, with the rest dispersed on a tiered system, the rules were changed for low-Earth orbit satellite providers.According to Bryant Clayton, the BDO’s director, the change was a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office and made just days before the grant was awarded.
