Senate Commerce Plans Infrastructure Hearings; Democrats Unveil $1 Trillion Proposal
The Senate Commerce Committee said Wednesday it plans a series of hearings next week on President Donald Trump's infrastructure legislative proposal, some of which will touch on the plan's broadband aspects. The package, released last month, proposes $50 billion in federal funding for rural infrastructure projects allocated via state block grants (see 1802120001). Senate Democrats meanwhile unveiled a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal of their own that includes $40 billion in direct funding for broadband projects.
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A Wednesday Senate Commerce hearing on the proposal is to include Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told us that hearing will be “pretty wide-ranging” but broadband will likely be at least a partial focus. Thune said the committee intends for the hearing to cast a wide net because the Trump proposal targets a range of infrastructure types that the committee has jurisdiction over and because Chao and Ross are set to testify. The hearing is set to begin at 10 a.m. in 106 Dirksen.
The Senate Communications Subcommittee will hold a separate Tuesday hearing specifically on broadband issues related to the Trump proposal. Competitive Carriers Association CEO Steve Berry, CTIA Executive Vice President Brad Gillen and NTCA Senior Vice President-Policy Mike Romano are among those set to testify. TDS Telecom Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Bob DeBroux and Gary Resnick, mayor of Wilton Manors, Florida, will also testify, Senate Commerce said. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.
Senate Democrats' $40 billion in broadband funding would be directed to a new Universal Internet Grant program aimed in part at areas that need improved connectivity “the most.” Democrats criticized Trump's proposal for not including dedicated broadband funding (see 1802140052 and 1802140064). Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., also questioned Chao about the broadband funding rationale during an Environment and Public Works Committee hearing last week (see 1803010050).
The Democrats' plan would fund upgrades to existing infrastructure “where reasonable” and would address deployments in tribal areas. Democrats also aim to create more “accurate” broadband connectivity maps and upgrade 911 and other public safety communications infrastructure. They proposed $40 billion in broadband funding last year as part of their “A Better Deal” economic program (see 1709280062). Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a news conference that he aims to pay for their proposal by rolling back parts of the 2017 tax cut law.
“Not only will we have a sharp contrast between them and us [on infrastructure], but we'll be able to say, 'Look at all the missed opportunities, starting with repatriation, where we were for bipartisanship and they basically opted for partisanship through reconciliation,'” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., during the news conference. “Only tone-deaf Democrats could think the proper response to the booming Trump economy, higher wages and hardworking Americans keeping more of their own money is to reverse the policies that got us here,” a White House spokeswoman said. Trump's proposal will allow the tax cuts to remain and improve conditions for deploying “21st century infrastructure, because that’s what the people deserve.”
Rural broadband advocates testified Tuesday before the House Small Business Agriculture and Technology subcommittees about barriers to deployments. WTA Senior Vice President-Government and Industry Affairs Derrick Owens lauded Trump's infrastructure proposal in written testimony, though he said “we think more direction should be given when it comes to broadband infrastructure.” Congress “should directly allocate a portion of that money specifically for rural broadband infrastructure purposes,” Owens said. “Ideally, this would be administered at the federal level” by the FCC or the Rural Utilities Service.
Trump's January executive actions aimed at improving broadband deployments in rural areas (see 1801080060 and 1801080063) and other recent moves by the White House and Congress show “help is on the way” for rural broadband advocates, said Competitive Carriers Association Senior Vice President-Legislative Affairs Tim Donovan in his written testimony. Rural Wireless Association Regulatory Counsel Erin Fitzgerald told the subcommittees that “low population density, extreme weather conditions, and difficult terrain” make broadband deployments in rural areas “an expensive and challenging task.”