OLYMPIA — The Washington Department of Commerce has given nonprofit organizations tens of millions of dollars to teach people to use computers, disappointing a legislator who thought some of the money was going to be spent connecting low-income households to the internet.

Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Okanogan County, complained Saturday in a House floor speech that “not a dime” from $50 million appropriated last year for broadband access has gone to linking rural residents to telecommunication satellites, a purpose approved by lawmakers.

Commerce awarded $33 million in “digital navigation grants” to 31 organizations that help people access the internet, according to the department.

“I don’t see any money going for something on the ground,” Kretz said in an interview Monday. “They missed the boat on this thing, as bad as I’ve ever seen.”

The Legislature created the Statewide Broadband Office in 2019. Providing high-speed internet to all Washingtonians by 2024 is the office’s key mandate, according to a recent report to lawmakers.

To get internet to remote areas, Kretz last year proposed spending $2 million to subsidize the initial cost for low-income households to link to satellite internet systems such as Starlink.

“I got it a few years ago and it changed my world,” said Kretz, who represents the state’s largest and most sparsely populated legislative district.

“You think of a digital desert, you think of my district, probably,” he said.

The House included Kretz’s request in its budget. In the final budget, negotiated with the Senate, the money was rolled into a broader $50 million appropriation for “digital equity and broadband access.”

The budget stated that programs may include increasing broadband access to low-income and rural communities through low-orbit satellite networks.

“I was kind of excited all summer waiting for the program to roll out,” Kretz said.

He said he checked in with Commerce and learned the department wasn’t doing anything involving low-orbiting satellites or low-income households.

Kretz said he hoped he can persuade Commerce to spend some of whatever is left of the $50 million “on the ground.”

Broadband Office Director Mark Vasconi said in an email that Commerce met with Starlink representatives last summer and learned there was a waiting list. The company plans to expand its Washington reach this year, according to its website.

Households that would have received support would have had to pay a monthly $120 fee once funding ended, he said.

“We will continue to work with Starlink and Rep. Kretz to fashion a plan that would possibly pay for the installation fee of $599 for low-income households located in sparsely populated counties designated as distressed” by the state, he said.

Commerce has so far spent $40 million, according to an email from department spokeswoman Liz Rocca.

In addition the digital navigation grants, Commerce awarded $4.1 million to Washington State University Extension to develop “county and tribal Broadband Action Teams.”

The Pullman School District received $1 million for broadband service for students in rural areas, according to Rocca. Commerce allocated $400,000 for a “digital equity dashboard” and awarded $1.5 million for a “digital equity forum.”

Commerce did not provide a breakdown of digital navigator grants. Approximately $5 million will be spent to assist ex-prisoners with the internet and $2.5 million to help veterans, according to an email Commerce sent to House staff members.

Commerce also reported to House staff that $3 million “has been committed to funding community action plans.”