Senators Introduce Legislation To Revamp SBA Broadband Policies
The leaders of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship introduced the Small Business Broadband and Emerging Information Technology Enhancement Act Thursday. S-2116 “comes on the heels of the recent Broadband Opportunity Council report by modernizing SBA’s approach to…
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broadband issues, connecting businesses with financing programs and advising on broadband acquisition by small businesses and startups,” said a summary of the legislation provided by a spokesman for committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. “The bill answers the call for agencies to address the push for broadband nationwide.” Shaheen is backing the 10-page bill with Chairman David Vitter, R-La. The Senate Committee on Small Business plans to mark up the legislation at 11 a.m. Wednesday in 428A Russell, Shaheen's spokesman told us. That markup session wasn't listed on the committee website by our deadline Friday. The legislation text explicitly mentions the FCC’s National Broadband Plan and the White House’s Broadband Opportunity Council recommendations. The bill would compel Small Business Administration training for small businesses “on how to maximize investment and external reach through broadband, while advising businesses lacking access on locating Wi-Fi access points and financing for broadband purchase,” and appoint a bureau staffer to be broadband coordinator working with the Broadband Opportunity Council, the summary said. “SBA will regularly report to the Congressional small business committees on the coordinator’s activities related to broadband and emerging technologies,” it said. “The SBA Office of Advocacy will collect data for a report on small business usage and ability to adopt broadband technology, in light of pricing and availability concerns.” Shaheen’s office cited support from the Competitive Carriers Association, Comptel, CompTIA, CTIA, NTCA, Public Knowledge and USTelecom. The office’s summary reports that an initial Congressional Budget Office estimate says there would be no effect on direct spending from this legislation. The bill has been referred to the committee run by Vitter and Shaheen.