This Week In Waste – August 22, 2025

Welcome to This Week in Waste, a series by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) that highlights how taxpayer dollars are being wasted in the federal, state, and local levels of government and efforts to fight back against this spendthrift behavior.

Universal Service Fund Remains Ripe for Reform

The Universal Service Fund (USF) remains outdated, wasteful, and poorly managed.  The USF’s broken funding model has pushed consumer fees to a projected record high of 39.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025.  Some USF programs duplicate telecommunications subsidies provided by other federal agencies, like USF’s High-Cost program and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service broadband program, and reform of the USF is essential. Read more here.

State BEAD Expected to Show Taxpayer Savings

Louisiana, Virginia, and West Virginia highlighted the total of $1.3 billion in savings thanks to BEAD program changes that reduces costs and expands technology options for broadband deployment.  More states are expected to follow suit, leveraging diverse technologies to bridge the digital divide while putting federal dollars to a good use.  Read more here.

Jazz, Mammoth win $1-a-year arena rent until 2125

Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz and Utah Mammoth sports teams, secured a lease from city officials allowing him to rent the land under the Delta Center arena in Salt Lake City for $1 annually for up to 100 years.  Smith also received $900 million in publicly funded subsidies.  The agreement includes renewal options and minimal oversight, establishing long-term public costs for a privately owned venue and making this deal one of the most egregious examples of wasteful stadium subsidies.  Read more here.

Secretary Rollins Blocks Taxpayer Dollars for Solar Panels on Prime Farmland

In a win for taxpayers and consumers, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the department will no longer fund solar panels on productive farmland, eliminating a New Green Deal initiative that misuses taxpayer dollars.  Solar panel subsidies distort land use, drive up farmland costs, and reduce the amount of land available for agriculture, impacting food production and raising grocery prices for consumers.  Read more here.