MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama is well on track to meet a federal deadline to spend its $2.12 billion share of American Rescue Plan funds, members of the ARPA Oversight Committee were reassured on Tuesday.
But other concerns were raised regarding the state’s efforts to expand broadband connectivity.
Adopted in 2021, the $1.9 trillion ARPA package saw states awarded funds to help provide economic and public health relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and also included a mandate that states spend those dollars by Dec. 31 of 2026, lest remaining funds be forfeited. As early as 2023, Alabama lawmakers were already expressing concerns over meeting that deadline, a concern that persists today.
“We know that this money has got to be spent by December of 2026, so can you say definitely that there is a plan to ensure that this money is spent so that we don’t get dinged?” asked Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, speaking to Lance LeFleur, the outgoing director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
“Absolutely; I believe that we are clawback-proof, if that’s a term,” LeFleur said. His agency was allocated $400 million of the $2.12 billion in ARPA funds, largely for water and sewer infrastructure projects.
Committee members, including Sens. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, and Greg Albritton, R-Range, commended LeFleur on his agency’s ability to stay on schedule, and without increasing staff or using ARPA funds toward administrative costs.
But about broadband expansion, there are concerns that may be outside the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ control.
Allocated roughly $260 million from the state’s ARPA funds, ADECA has been charged with overseeing the state’s high-speed internet expansion efforts, which have been supplemented with an additional $1.4 billion in federal dollars the state was awarded in 2023.
“Do you have any concerns that this (money) is going to be expended and in the ground before our deadline?” Albritton asked ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell.
“Senator, there’s always a concern, but at the same time, we’re going to do everything that’s humanly possible,” Boswell said.
An estimated 140,000 additional homes, businesses and public facilities will be connected via broadband under more than 200 individual projects approved by ADECA as of late 2024, with the agency well on track to dispense all ARPA funds by the late 2026 deadline.
However, as pointed out by Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, a number of internet service providers are concurrently applying for grants for broadband expansion projects directly from the federal government, which in some cases, Boswell said, may lead to gaps in the state’s broadband expansion efforts.
“What I’m concerned with is that some of these companies that have applied directly to these federal entities and programs, will they really get it finished?” Boswell said.
“Some of your companies have tied up areas of the state with different funds, and they have up to so many years to complete the project. My concern personally is that we’ve got the (federal) money that is coming, and if they don’t get those projects done, then you’re going to leave voids.”
Singleton told Alabama Daily News after the meeting that despite the uncertainty, the state was still “on a good path” in terms of utilizing most, if not all of the state’s ARPA funds allocated toward broadband expansion before the federal deadline.
“It could be a concern as to whether or not we have to send money back, however, it is a good thing that people are being served,” Singleton told ADN. “It is a little confusing, but I think we’re on a good path. Even if we don’t get it all in wired (broadband expansion), we can also look at the wireless concept, and even if by satellite to be able to spend the money if we need to.”
At the Alabama Department of Finance, Assistant Finance Director Susan Wilhelm said that just $7.4 million remained in unspent ARPA funds allocated to the agency. It will likely be directed toward rural hospitals to reimburse them for COVID-19 expenses.
Albritton, who chairs the Senate General Fund budget committee, told ADN he was “more than comfortable” with the progress made by state agencies on spending the state’s ARPA funds.
“I think we are going to be able to use these funds, I think most all of it’s getting in the ground, there’s not any particular waste, no one’s hired additional people, it’s all been done with the resources that we’ve got, not taking any money out of ARPA, it’s all going in the ground, I think all of that is excellent,” Albritton said.