Democrats Aim at E-rate, Broadband Funding for 4th COVID-19 Bill

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Wednesday she and other congressional Democrats plan to push for the next bill addressing COVID-19 to include broadband capacity and distance learning provisions. A compromise of a third stimulus bill unveiled that day failed to include those priorities. Capitol Hill leaders and President Donald Trump’s administration reached a deal early Wednesday. A cloture vote on the COVID-19 legislative vehicle (HR-748) was expected to have happened Wednesday night. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and three other Republicans made that outcome more uncertain when they objected to the bill's proposed amount of unemployment insurance.

The compromise Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act language that began circulating Wednesday continues to include earlier text aimed at temporarily increasing access to telehealth services during the pandemic and some telecom funding, as expected (see 2003240064). It increases emergency funding to CPB to $75 million from an earlier proposed $50 million amount. The money will help CPB “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including for fiscal stabilization grants to public telecommunications entities,” the bill said. It would help CPB “maintain programming and services and preserve small and rural stations threatened by declines in non-Federal revenues.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., proposed giving CPB $300 million (see 2003230066).

The consensus bill would give the FCC $200 million, which the office of Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., pointed to as explicitly funding the Connected Care in-home patient monitoring telehealth pilot. The bill text says the FCC funding would go to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally, including to support efforts of health care providers to address coronavirus by providing telecommunications services, information services, and devices necessary to enable the provision of telehealth services.” The FCC had sought the money.

The measure would give the Rural Utilities Service an additional $100 million for its ReConnect rural broadband funding program to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.” It would give an additional $25 million to RUS’ distance learning, telemedicine and broadband program “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally, for telemedicine and distance learning services in rural areas.”

The Department of Agriculture outlined immediate actions it’s taking to help rural residents and businesses amid the outbreak, including via RUS. Administrator Chad Rupe has “delegated authority” to the telecom program “to consider requests to waive certain site inspection requirements” during the pandemic, the department said. It “extended for 60 days the deadline” for telecom program borrowers and grantees to submit their annual independent certified public accountant audit. Most such reviews are due April 30. USDA is “waiving borrower covenant requirements for loan agreement financial ratios” for the entirety of 2020. It’s “waiving all financial reporting requirements associated with existing [RUS] loan and grant covenants" beginning Jan. 1 through June 30.

The compromise bill includes language reauthorizing Health Resources and Services Administration grant programs that promote the use of telehealth technologies. It would allow high-deductible health plans with a health savings account to cover telehealth services before a patient reaches that threshold. The legislation would eliminate a requirement from an earlier COVID-19 law that limits the Medicare expansion authority during the pandemic to situations where a physician or other healthcare professional has treated the patient during the past three years.

The measure would require the Department of Health and Human Services to issue clarifying guidance encouraging remote patient monitoring and other telehealth services during the pandemic. It would allow federal Medicare-qualified health centers and rural health clinics to temporarily be distant sites for telehealth consultations. The legislation would allow Medicare reimbursements to those providers at rates similar to the national average rates under the program’s physician fee schedule. It would temporarily eliminate a requirement that barred the use of telehealth services to do home dialysis evaluations. It also would temporarily allow Medicare-qualified hospice physicians and nurse practitioners to use telehealth technologies to fulfill hospice recertification requirements.

Action Soon?

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declared victory after contentious negotiations with House leaders and the Trump administration. McConnell predicted during a floor speech the chamber “is going to stand together, act together and pass this historic relief package today.” Schumer insisted Democrats’ opposition to earlier versions of the Cares Act resulted in a better bill that included some of their legislative priorities. Pelosi believes the revisions shifted the bill from “corporation-focused to workers-first,” but the Democratic caucus still needs to review the full details. The House wasn’t expected to vote on the measure before Thursday.

Democrats “are going to go back” and again push for broadband and distance learning funding as part of a planned fourth comprehensive COVID-19 bill that Congress is aiming to work through when the Senate reconvenes, Cantwell said in an interview. Senate Democrats were pushing for distance learning funding aimed at historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and other minority-serving institutions (see 2003180066). They sought emergency funding for E-rate and other USF broadband programs. Pelosi’s Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act proposed $2 billion in emergency E-rate funding and $1 billion for the Lifeline program.

“We were disappointed” that E-rate funding didn’t make it into the third COVID-19 bill, Cantwell said. “We want to make sure people have access” to broadband, especially “given schools are shut down and we have issues in certain parts of the country.” E-rate funding and other telecom priorities “probably didn’t get the attention” they deserved because the Cares Act had such “big pots” of money for larger issues like aiding people who have lost jobs amid the pandemic, she said. “Now we can go back and hopefully get agreement” to address them. Work on that future measure is likely to start immediately after Congress passes HR-748, but the Senate’s not expected to return until at least after Easter, lobbyists said.

Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., meanwhile, filed a House version of the Keeping Critical Connections Act Wednesday. The bill would set up a $2 billion fund at the FCC to compensate ISPs with fewer than 250,000 customers for providing free or discounted broadband services during the pandemic to low-income households that can't afford to pay their bills. The fund would compensate small ISPs if they provide distance learning capability to students during the emergency. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., led filing of Senate version S-3569 earlier this week. NTCA and WTA praised the House version.

Free Press criticized lawmakers for including “next to no” emergency broadband funding in the compromise COVID-19 bill. “Members of Congress like to make speeches about the lack of broadband back home,” said Vice President-Policy Matt Wood. “But when given a chance to spend some money and improve internet access and affordability during this critical moment, they’ve failed spectacularly. This is a political farce, and a tragedy for tens of millions of people who are already disconnected.” FP earlier recommended Congress include Lifeline and E-rate funding in the measure. It urges $50 billion for broadband deployments.