Senate Democrats Unconcerned by Biden's Lower Broadband Request

Telecom-focused Democratic senators demurred Monday and Tuesday from criticizing President Joe Biden for offering to substantially reduce the proposed broadband spending request in his infrastructure counteroffer to Republicans (see 2105210056). They insisted in interviews that Biden’s revised plan, which lowered the proposed broadband money from $100 billion to $65 billion to align with an April GOP framework (see 2104220067), won’t hamstring efforts to enact an infrastructure package that contains a larger amount of connectivity funding via budget reconciliation if talks with Republicans collapse. Lobbyists and others we spoke with believe Biden’s shift doesn’t mean a higher figure won’t ultimately pass.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi, one of the lawmakers spearheading Republicans’ infrastructure talks with the White House, told us Tuesday he expects a new counterproposal will likely retain the $65 billion given the administration’s agreement. Wicker believes the apparent agreement on broadband spending is positive although Republicans and the White House disagree on how to mete out that money.

Wicker earlier told reporters he expects the Republicans’ new counterproposal is “going to be the end of our rope” and will total “close to” $1 trillion. Biden previously indicated “he could agree to” that spending level, Wicker said. Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia told reporters she and other Republicans plan to deliver their revised offer to the White House Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday he plans to “move forward in July” on infrastructure legislation even if a bipartisan deal doesn't happen. That “has always been our plan,” he said. Senate Democrats have also been eyeing delaying a bid to pass infrastructure legislation via budget reconciliation (see 2103160001) until after FY 2021 ends Sept. 30, lobbyists said.

What matters most is “what we’re going to do with the investment” for broadband “and if it’s going to accomplish its goals,” Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us. “The range is roughly there” and Biden’s counteroffer is a “matter for discussion. And there’s room for more discussion.” Biden’s decision to agree to the Republicans’ figure here took some congressional Democrats by surprise since they were led to believe GOP negotiators were willing to increase their own number (see 2105190069), aides said: Congressional Democrats expect talks with Republicans to not result in a deal.

“I appreciate the administration is working diligently on infrastructure” and is “trying to build bipartisan support” for a consensus package, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., told us. “We need to be very aggressive with our broadband and internet investment across America. I’ve advocated for the package” of broadband funding proposals that House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., refiled in March (see 2103110060) as the $100 billion Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR-1783/S-745).

Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said he needs to “look into” Biden’s revised proposal more closely and noted he supported the White House’s initial $100 billion offer (see 2103310064). “We need to provide sufficient resources to connect 100% of the country,” Van Hollen said: Biden’s initial proposal would “go a long way to addressing broadband issues,” including both “connectivity and affordability” gaps.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told reporters he hasn’t had a chance to “look at” the revised proposal either, but “we need to find ways to increase broadband speeds” across the U.S. He urged the Treasury Department Tuesday to revise its interim final rules for broadband project eligibility for money from the American Rescue Plan Act package's $350 billion in state and local funding (see 2105100060) to include areas that lack access to 100 Mbps. Interim rules capped eligibility at areas lacking 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. It's impossible for a “family of four to telework and engage in remote schooling while sharing 3 Mbps of upload bandwidth,” Wyden said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Biden’s counteroffer may slightly hurt Democrats’ efforts to enact a higher broadband spending figure if talks with Republicans collapse, “but not that much,” said Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Blair Levin. “It’s very easy for” Biden to say he offered to agree to the Republicans’ broadband spending proposal “‘in the spirit of compromise, but if they don’t want to compromise, we’ll just do what we think is right. And I think more than $65 billion is right.’” The “big question is how we accelerate” the moment “when we have networks everywhere and everyone’s” connected to them, Levin said.

Biden’s move isn’t yet “particularly meaningful” given “negotiations are so fluid” right now, said Free Press Vice President-Policy Matt Wood. “It’s all kind of abstract right now” given both the Biden and Senate GOP proposals lack the “level of specificity” included in both HR-1783/S-745 and the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-1848). “It really is all about what you’re putting the money towards” and “how it all breaks down” rather than “the sheer bottom line number," Wood said.