Broadband Could Face Further Cuts in Stimulus Bill
Broadband proponents are fearful further cuts to proposed funding could come during conference negotiations over the stimulus bill the Senate passed Wednesday 61-37. Republicans are fighting to rein in overall spending, and the broadband provisions were trimmed back to $7 billion from the Senate’s original call for $9 billion. The House proposes about $6 billion in a bill that sets slightly different rules and would divide the funding between two government agencies -- Commerce and Agriculture.
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“We request that the final legislation maintain provisions that would support improved access to broadband Internet,” said a letter to House leaders signed by 29 members of Congress from rural areas, many of whom serve on the House Commerce Committee. “Our rural areas specifically fall farther behind every day they do not have access” to broadband, said Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, one of the signers of the letter. Broadband projects put people to work immediately and then create long-term economic growth, Space said.
Industry welcomed passage of the bill, with statements of support from USTelecom, Qwest, Cisco, Microsoft and Wireless Communications Association International. But industry is leery of the network management and open-access conditions tied to grants in both bills, which take slightly different approaches. Several industry groups urged lawmakers last week to avoid attaching such provisions, warning that it could deter investment.
The bill should not contain open access or net neutrality provisions, and such policies should be considered on their merit in a separate proceeding, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May. Grants should be targeted toward unserved areas, he said, and it makes more sense for the NTIA to manage the program.
Free Press praised the effort, calling both House and Senate versions of the bill “strong efforts.” Policy Director Ben Scott said “neither is without room for improvement.” The Senate bill doesn’t set speed benchmarks for the grant program, he said, which “could reduce the long- term benefits” of the legislation.
The House bill’s proposal to divide funding between the NTIA and Agriculture’s rural development agency is a concern because it introduces confusion and could “hamper efforts to ensure accountability and effective allocation of the funds,” Scott said. Several Hill officials tracking the broadband provisions said they expect the NTIA will ultimately get the full funding in the conference report. Scott said he feared the Senate’s tax credit provisions, not included in the House version, could benefit large companies with projects already in the works, rather than encourage smaller companies to target unserved areas. “Using tax credits to subsidize private investment that would have occurred even in the absence of public support is not good stimulus policy,” Scott said.
Microsoft urged more funding for health IT, and suggested that conferees maintain provisions that allow consumers to control personal health records, said Fred Humphries, managing director of U.S. government affairs. “We continue to believe that additional funding tied to measurable outcomes is needed to help … lower healthcare costs for employers and workers.”