House Commerce Advances COVID-19 Bill With $7.6B for E-rate

The House Commerce Committee voted 31-24 along party lines Friday night to advance to the House Budget Committee language in its part of the coming COVID-19 budget reconciliation measure that would allocate $7.6 billion for E-rate remote learning funding, as expected. The section would also allocate $50 million to the Consumer Product Safety Commission that would in part be used to monitor e-commerce websites selling pandemic-related and other dangerous consumer products.

House Commerce Republicans ultimately didn’t seek votes on a host of proposed amendments on telecom issues filed during the markup, including some on net neutrality and municipal broadband. The committee earlier dispatched amendments from House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., that would have affected the E-rate money. Latta proposed redirecting the funds to an NTIA pilot to fund “covered partnerships” for broadband projects established in December via the FY 2021 appropriations and pandemic aid package. Walberg wanted to give the money only to schools and libraries that reopen five days a week.