1. In 2023, the United States Congress passed the 'Modern Schools Connectivity Act' to address the digital divide in education. The legislation appropriated $50 billion to be distributed to states specifically for the installation of fiber-optic cables in public school districts. To receive the money, states were required to adhere to strict federal guidelines regarding the selection of contractors and the technical specifications of the cables. The Department of Education was tasked with overseeing compliance.

Governor Elena Wright of the state of West Dakota publicly criticized the legislation's rigid requirements. She argued that the mountainous geography of her state made fiber-optic installation impractical and prohibitively expensive in rural areas. Instead, Governor Wright lobbied the federal government to allow her state to use the funds for satellite internet technology and teacher training programs, which she argued would better serve her constituents. She urged Congress to convert the funding into a grant that would provide states with greater flexibility in determining how to best achieve the goal of improved connectivity, rather than being tied to specific federal mandates.