House Ag OKs USDA Broadband Money Hike

The House Agriculture Committee voted unanimously to advance the Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act (HR-4374) that committee leaders hope to attach to the coming infrastructure spending package. President Joe Biden rallied Senate Democrats Wednesday to back a $3.5 trillion package party leaders aim to pass via budget reconciliation along with a bipartisan infrastructure plan he supports with $65 billion for broadband (see 2106240070).

"We're going to get this done," Biden told reporters before speaking at the Senate Democratic caucus lunch. Budget Committee Democrats agreed Tuesday to back the $3.5 trillion reconciliation spending level. Biden later met with a group of state governors and mayors on his infrastructure plans.

House Agriculture Chairman David Scott, D-Ga., and ranking member Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., highlighted their close collaboration on HR-4374, which they first eyed in March (see 2103220063). The amended version advanced Wednesday would allocate $43 billion to Rural Utilities Service programs for FY 2022-29. Scott’s substitute amendment would set ReConnect’s annual allocation at $4.5 billion, down from the $5.25 billion the original HR-4374 envisioned.

It’s “impossible to overstate how important it is that we get every single resident of rural America” connected to broadband, Scott said. He said House Agriculture is the “most qualified entity here in Congress to provide” leadership here because “we know what rural America is asking for.” It’s “absolutely vital that” the committee “be the guiding light on this issue” as lawmakers begin work on formal language for infrastructure legislation, Scott said.

Thompson said HR-4374 “needs to be a part of the discussion as we decide the details of any broader infrastructure package. But, as we negotiate that final package, all our good work here today will be for naught if this package is jammed through the House, tied to a partisan process that we cannot support.” He earlier noted the measure is “similar to” House Agriculture Republicans’ HR-3369, which would have authorized $7 billion for U.S. Department of Agriculture rural broadband programs over two years (see 2105210059). Thompson praised committee Democrats for agreeing to remove language from HR-4374 that would have set “aside funding for specific states.”

Scott told reporters he's talking with House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., about HR-4374, which is also under that panel's jurisdiction. The Biden-backed bipartisan infrastructure plan is believed to propose allocating $15 billion to ReConnect (see 2106290066).

HR-4374 proposes increasing middle-mile annual funding to $300 million, a 30-fold rise. The innovative broadband advancement program would get $300 million annually. Distance learning and telemedicine and community connect funds would rise, too.

USDA would get $25 million per year to set up a “system for the dissemination of information and technical assistance” on the department’s broadband programs to “Indian tribes,” tribal organizations and other eligible entities. HR-4374 allocates 1% of RUS’ annual funding for FY 2022-29 for grants of up to $50,000 per entity to collect connectivity data. USDA would be required to share data with the FCC and NTIA for use in their own broadband mapping work.

USDA Senior Counsel Gary Badway praised HR-4374’s proposed increases in the department’s rural broadband programs, during the markup. Amendments mean it now will “really align” with RUS goals, including for ReConnect, he said. It “simplifies” and “maintains” RUS’ “most important priorities” for its connectivity programs.

Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., filed the Assisting Broadband Connectivity Act Tuesday. The measure would change USDA broadband program rules, so a project isn't automatically ineligible because it previously received state-level funding. It would let states use leftover COVID-19 aid and other federal funds for broadband.