Hurdles Seen in Reconciliation Bill Broadband Money Push

Congressional Democrats are considering how to attach additional broadband money to a coming budget reconciliation package (see 2108100062) without violating the agreement a bipartisan group of senators struck on spending for what became the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Senate-passed HR-3684 includes $65 billion for broadband. Republicans and some observers caution attempts to include connectivity money this year beyond what was in the bipartisan infrastructure package could backfire.

Nine centrist House Democrats, including Communications Subcommittee member Kurt Schrader of Oregon, said they're refusing to consider voting for a budget resolution until the chamber passes HR-3684. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., plans to reconvene the chamber the week of Aug. 23 to vote on the Senate-passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, a blueprint for the reconciliation measure. The nine lawmakers could effectively torpedo that plan given House Democrats' four-seat majority. “Some have suggested that we hold off on considering the Senate infrastructure bill for months -- until the reconciliation process is completed,” the Democrats wrote Pelosi. “We simply can’t afford months of unnecessary delays and risk squandering” the opportunity to enact HR-3684.

The Democrats would “be in breach of their agreement” on the bipartisan infrastructure plan if they moved to tack on more broadband spending via reconciliation, Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said in an interview. “Items dealt with in” HR-3684 “cannot be amended or tampered with” via other legislation. Wicker was one of the 19 Senate Republicans who voted for HR-3684 and was part of an earlier GOP group that first proposed the $65 billion connectivity figure (see 2104220067).

Any bid for more money is “going to have a hard time getting critical mass” even among the Democratic caucus, Wicker said: The $65 billion HR-3684 includes for broadband “is an enormous amount of money,” so “we should see how that works” first before seeking more. Republican members of the bipartisan group are likely to balk at allowing more broadband spending via reconciliation, since talks on the connectivity part of HR-3684 were especially contentious, Senate aides said. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the lead Republican working on the bill’s broadband section, didn’t comment.

Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Mass., told us he’s among those looking at how they can incorporate broadband into the reconciliation package, but he acknowledged hurdles ahead. Democratic members of the bipartisan group are likely to be wary of tacking on more broadband money if it appears to overlap with what they included in HR-3684, aides said.

Strategy Concerns

The Democratic caucus will have to determine “where we would focus” additional broadband money and “what the agreement” that led to HR-3684 specifically covers, Van Hollen said. “I think more funds can go into the affordability piece especially” without breaching the bipartisan deal’s terms. Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and others also cited more affordability money as a goal. Group members Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are the likeliest Democrats to oppose because they publicly raised concerns about the $3.5 trillion overall price tag of the proposed reconciliation package, lobbyists said. Manchin and Sinema didn’t comment.

Any money that would directly supplement what’s in HR-3684 “would violate the spirit of the agreement” among the bipartisan Senate group and President Joe Biden, said former FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in an interview. The bipartisan group “is not going to be appreciative of members trying to undo their work" right away. “I can’t imagine" that the Democrats involved in that group are “going to say, ‘sure, we made a deal in the room, [Biden] backed it and now we’re going to undo it,'” O'Rielly said: The “system’s already flush with cash” between the $65 billion in HR-3684 and additional money included in past COVID-19 aid bills, so it’s unlikely additional money would meaningfully help.

The House “needs to take up” HR-3684 “and pass it as soon” as the chamber reconvenes rather than prioritize the budget reconciliation package, said Internet Innovation Alliance honorary Chairman Rick Boucher, a Democratic former House Communications chairman from Virginia. “I would not be surprised to see some additional money” included in the reconciliation package “to address connectivity issues or affordability issues,” but that measure is “going to be very controversial, and it’s far from certain” the Senate will be able to pass it, he told us: It would be a “mistake” for the House to wait on HR-3684 until the Senate completes its reconciliation bill since the $65 billion in the infrastructure bill is “urgently needed.”

“I’m not surprised” Democrats are seeking to “get a little bit more” broadband funding via reconciliation given how contentious the bipartisan talks were, but it’s a “risky strategy,” said Bipartisan Policy Center Technology Project Director Tom Romanoff: Democratic “moderates are already breaking with Pelosi” on holding off on HR-3684 while Senate Democrats write the reconciliation bill. “$65 billion is a great way to get started” on addressing broadband connectivity and affordability even if it’s “just not going to get the job done” completely, he told us.