is the ISPs themselves. Municipal broadband poses a massive threat to the profit that ISPs can draw up and, as a result, ISPs are some of the largest donors to members of Congress to actively oppose their creation. In 2019 and 2020, ISPs spent over $235 million lobbying Congress People to protect their interests. Republican lawmakers even tried to pass a nationwide ban in 2021 on the formation of municipal broadband networks, claiming it would “encourage private investment.” Finance In support of U.S. government agencies attempting to deploy broadband services more widely, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation detailed the cost estimates of providing "fiber optic connectivity to anchor institutions" in the United States in 2009. The institutions considered in the 2009 report were public schools, public libraries, hospitals and community colleges, with an estimated total cost of USD 5–10 billion. On February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed in an effort to build the economy, assist in job creation and retention, and improve U.S. infrastructure. The Act allocated $4.7 billion to establish a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program as part of the National Telecommunications and Information Agency State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. A portion of funding awards were allocated to extending and developing broadband services to reach rural and "underserved areas," as well as improving broadband access for public safety agencies. In July 2010. the District of Columbia was awarded $17.4 million in federal funds for its DC-Community Access Network. In 2010, the NTIA awarded a $126.3 million grant to West Virginia in order to improve the state's broadband infrastructure. The grant was particularly intended for public facilities such as hospitals, libraries, and schools. However, a report from West Virginia's legislative auditor suggested that the state had misused the stimulus money, and wasted an estimated $7.9–15 million on purchasing high-capacity Cisco routers that were often installed in smaller facilities which did not require such extensive network capacity. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin established a task force to investigate the overspending. In January 2014, the NTIA rejected a proposal by the State to use the remaining $2.5 million (plus other funding, including credits from Cisco for returning the oversized routers) to fund a middle mile network, for not reaching "programmatic requirements" and missing a deadline for its use. United States policy In 2000, the Federal Communications Commission endorsed municipal broadband as a "best practice" for bringing