State can’t appeal loss of $80M grant

Despite repeated pleas from state leaders, Louisiana won’t be able to regain an $80 million federal grant to expand broadband Internet connections, and the money instead will be returned to the federal treasury, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The department rescinded the grant last month, questioning whether Louisiana could accomplish its plan in the time allowed and whether changes made to the plans met the goals of the grant. “We have worked closely with the state throughout the last several months to rescue this project but have now concluded that we have to move on,” says Commerce Department Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling in a statement to The Associated Press. State officials, including U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, want the Commerce Department to reverse its decision and have asked that the state have a chance to restructure its plans to meet the requirements. In a hearing today on the lost money, members of the Public Service Commission urged the Jindal administration to press for reconsideration. The grant process doesn’t include an option for appeal, according to the Commerce Department. The grant would have provided for 900 miles of fiber optic cable that would stretch broadband to thousands of schools, libraries, health care centers and homes in 21 rural parishes with limited access. The Board of Regents applied for the grant that was awarded in February 2010. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s commissioner of administration, Paul Rainwater, maintains the board shouldn’t have applied because the government-run program would compete with private industry.