The Trump administration has terminated $35 million for digital safety and literacy programs in Maine.
Maggie Drummond-Bahl, with the Maine Connectivity Authority, said the terminations came just as her organization and others across the state were poised to implement federally-funded programs to boost telehealth, device access, municipal data sharing, and more after two years of planning.
"We had finally reached the moment when we were able to be awarded these funds, able to access these funds, and to begin putting them to work," she said. "That's a really disappointing thing about this moment."
Drummond-Bahl said the programs would have served around 130,000 Mainers. She said her organization is consulting with the governor's office and the Maine attorney general's office to consider next steps.
The funding was awarded through the nearly $3 billion Digital Equity Act, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Amy Stone, director of the Bridgton Public Library, said in the past that funding has allowed the library to purchase five internet hotspots, which she said are in high demand.
"Students who are maybe in between homes, they're able to have this hot spot so that they can do homework from wherever they are," she said. "They have been checked out continuously since we were able to purchase them in October."
Now, she said she's not sure the library will be able to afford the ongoing hotspot subscriptions.
In a social media post last week, President Trump said the Digital Equity Act was "RACIST and ILLEGAL".
In a letter shared by the Maine Connectivity Authority, the Department of Commerce said it was terminating the grants because they "were created with, and administered using, impermissible and unconstitutional racial preferences."
