ARPA broadband deployment is comprised of 602 State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and 604 Capital Projects Funds. During the 68th legislative session (i.e., LC 1234) a shift of $44,148,748 of 602 funds to this program was passed by an appropriation change. The State applied to Treasury and has received approval for the $119.9M of CPF 604 funds. Total funding for grant awards increased from $266M to approximately $310M.
On December 14, 2022, Governor Gianforte approved 61 projects recommended for funding by the Montana Department of Administration, covering 61,887 serviceable locations across Montana. Of these locations, 38,631 are unserved communities, 21,956 are underserved communities, and 1,300 are rural communities.
You can view the approved projects by clicking here.
As discussed in the October 2025 Communications Advisory Commission meeting, approximately $18M in funds are eligible to be reprogrammed, and the Department of Administration conducted an ARPA Lightning Round seeking eligible applications. On December 3, 2025, Governor Gianforte approved five projects totaling approximately $16.3M that were recommended for funding by DOA, covering ~1,480 serviceable locations across Montana. You can view the approved projects by clicking here. DOA will continue to seek to reprogram funds, through a structured framework, to high performing ARPA Subrecipients to allocate any additional remaining funds.