Senate Unveils Farm Bill with New Rural Broadband Grants
Draft legislation authorizing the five-year farm bill would provide broadband grants for rural areas, according to draft Senate legislation to be discussed publicly Wednesday. The omnibus bill was still in the final stages of drafting Tuesday and a hearing on its provisions was postponed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Thomas Harkin, D-Iowa, because of conflicts with a separate appropriations measure. The committee released its discussion draft of the bill late Tuesday afternoon.
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Markup of the measure is expected to proceed later in the week, aides said, although the outlook on Congress completing work on the bill is growing dim, particularly as President Bush has already threatened to veto the House measure (HR-2419). It isn’t uncommon for Congress to adopt a resolution allowing the Agriculture Department to continue running programs under the bill until a final bill can be crafted, a Senate agriculture aide said. Some provisions of the bill have already expired, he said.
The Senate bill would order the Comptroller General to study the economic factors that the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Services weighs in allocating federal broadband benefits, according to draft language released Tuesday. The comptroller would have to examine how those awards affect the expansion of broadband infrastructure by the private sector. The comptroller would have to report its finding to Congress within 30 months of adoption of the legislation.
The draft bill also includes a version of the “Connect Nation” legislation, which would facilitate development of public-private partnerships in identifying areas of the country that don’t have broadband service, or lack more than one service provider. The bill defines broadband service as providing a transmission rate of at least 200 kbps in one direction, or a “successor definition” of broadband that the FCC develops, the discussion draft said. The bill would provide $40 million over five years for the program, and is similar to legislation sponsored by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.
Broadband portions of the Senate farm bill aren’t controversial, but would give a leg up to policymakers eager for new initiatives to broaden broadband coverage in rural areas. The rural development title of the bill contains a provision to create a new category of tax credit bonds, called “rural renaissance bonds,” that could be used for broadband infrastructure projects. About $500 million is said to be allocated for the program, but a detailed breakdown was not available, Hill sources said. The bill also would authorize the Agriculture Department to make loans ensuring that rural areas get access to 911 services.
Like its House counterpart, which was passed in late July, the Senate bill aims to tighten up ambiguity in the current law over what constitutes an “eligible rural community.” The Agriculture Department found fault with the current law’s definition, according to a 2005 audit which found that broadband providers serving well-off suburban communities were able to qualify for grants under the program. The House bill addressed that problem by saying communities of more than 20,000 would not qualify for designation as an eligible rural community. The Senate bill addresses the issue by requiring that eligible applicants propose to service rural areas where at least 25 percent of households are not currently offered broadband service. Loans may not be granted in areas where there are three or more service providers, the bill said.
USTelecom said it supported the Senate draft, in a letter sent Tuesday to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders. “USTelecom believes the legislation will help advance the deployment of broadband and is pleased the Committee included many of the suggestions that we provided to improve the program,” the association said. The bill will better target broadband loans to unserved rural areas and increase the number of companies eligible for the program, the letter said.