Communications Workers of American (CWA) have created a report card for federally funded projects…

Stakeholders like members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have an interest in ensuring public officials work to ensure that publicly funded infrastructure projects are transparent, equitable, and contribute to creating high-quality career jobs. CWA actively advocated for the incorporation of strong accountability measures for federally funded broadband projects. CWA hopes that the lessons learned in this report can help policymakers better design and oversee future broadband projects, including in the implementation of the state BEAD programs.

They don’t include any Minnesota communities, but I thought their criteria was interesting nonetheless…

Grading Criteria to Evaluate Projects

Transparency Measures: 

Public participation in the county government’s use of SLFRF/ARPA funding (3 points)

Public disclosure of project information (3 points)

Equity Measures:
Provider matching contributions (3 points)

Participation in and publicity regarding the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program or alternative subsidy program (2 points)

Type of broadband technology offered (2 points)

Labor Standards Measures: 

Use of directly employed workforce or subcontractor accountability (2 points)

Union representation (2 points)

Payment of prevailing wages (1 point)

Local employment opportunities (2 points)

Total: 20 points