Lujan, Thune, Barrasso Bow Accelerating Broadband Permits Act

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming filed the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act to speed federal evaluation of connectivity projects, ensuring they meet the 270-day process deadline instituted in the 2018 Mobile Now Act. “To ensure rural communities across South Dakota have access to reliable broadband, it is critical that federal agencies are processing broadband permits in a timely fashion and that they are being held accountable for any delays,” Thune, who led the Mobile Now Act, said in a statement. Lujan, in a statement, said, “More must be done to address the barriers that have long kept rural communities on the wrong side of the digital divide.”