Clyburn Forms All-Democratic House Rural Broadband Task Force
The House Task Force on Rural Broadband is a positive step toward improving internet connectivity in unserved areas of the U.S., but will need to come up with concrete legislative recommendations to be an effective policy player, communications sector officials and lobbyists told us. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., led formation of the group, which he announced Monday. President Donald Trump in late April agreed with top congressional Democrats to pursue $2 trillion in spending on broadband and other infrastructure projects (see 1904300194). The task force is one of several Capitol Hill pushes on broadband legislation, though some remain skeptical about the prospects for an overarching infrastructure funding bill.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The House group said its priorities include “passing legislation” aimed at providing “affordable universal access” to broadband by 2025 and ensuring federal funding for rural broadband projects is “spent effectively. Rural Americans should at least “have the ability” to access affordable broadband given its role as an “essential service in America today,” Clyburn said in a news release. The 17 task force members announced Monday were all Democrats. They include four House Communications Subcommittee members -- G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, Dave Loebsack of Iowa, Tom O'Halleran of Arizona and Peter Welch of Vermont. Two House Infrastructure Committee Democrats were in the group -- Antonio Delgado of New York and Abby Finkenauer of Iowa.
Clyburn's status as a member of House leadership will be important in continuing to elevate the focus on broadband connectivity, said Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Phillip Berenbroick. “This is an issue that's been top of mind” for House Commerce and other committees in recent years, but “there's been a lack of follow-through on that focus on rural broadband.” Having a House leader who's “dedicated to really focusing on this issue and driving leadership decision on a macro level to work on this issue” could improve the odds for a more concrete path forward, Berenbroick told us.
“If we are going to see legislation that achieves universal access by 2025, it should have been introduced quite some time ago,” said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Broadband and Spectrum Policy Director Doug Brake. "I hope the task force succeeds in leading the passage of significant spending legislation to accelerate broadband in rural areas.” What “we need now is the political will” to provide additional broadband funding, “not a lengthy period of study and consultations,” Brake said. “If you set reasonable performance goals and hold a well-structured procurement auction, a relatively modest one-time capital infusion could do a lot to narrow the urban-rural gap.”
The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition is “really glad” Clyburn “is raising the visibility of the need for rural broadband access” via the task force, said Executive Director John Windhausen. Congress needs to generally become “more involved” in setting the agenda for infrastructure legislation. Any recommendations the group makes should support an “open application process so that it doesn't try to steer funding toward one sector over another” to ensure there's “as much of an open, competitive playing field as possible,” he said. SHLB also wants the task force to emphasize local communities as the primary decision-maker determining where broadband funding goes.
NTCA is “pleased to see policymakers continue to recognize the importance of addressing the challenges of rural broadband,” said CEO Shirley Bloomfield in a statement. Wireless ISP Association President Claude Aiken said it wants the group to “promote balanced approaches for accessing spectrum; ensure that subsidy programs are fair and technologically-neutral; provide meaningful access to infrastructure for broadband deployments; and keep regulatory requirements appropriately scaled for small businesses.”
Berenbroick he hopes the task force is able to make recommendations that go beyond the focus on fixing federal agencies' broadband coverage data collection practices. The issue has repeatedly drawn the ire of lawmakers, most recently during a Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing last week on FY 2020 budget requests (see 1905070072). Congress and other stakeholders never seem to be able to “move forward past” the broadband mapping issue to figure out solutions to overarching issues preventing universal connectivity, Berenbroick said. “That can't wait,” so “we have to walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Legislation aimed at addressing broadband mapping and other telecom issues are on the docket at a planned Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee executive session. The committee will mark up the Broadband Interagency Coordination Act (S-1294), as expected (see 1905060051). The bill would direct the FCC, NTIA and Agriculture Department to sign a memorandum of understanding to coordinate on broadband funding, including considering “basing the distribution of funds for broadband deployment … on standardized” broadband coverage data (see 1905020058). Also up for markup is the Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act (S-1289), which would compel an FCC Division of Economic Analysis assessment of effects of broadband deployment and adoption (see 1905010184).
Senate Commerce will also consider the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (Pirate) Act (S-1228), which would increase fines for illegal pirate operations from $10,000 per violation to $100,000 per day per violation, up to a maximum of $2 million. It would streamline FCC enforcement to empower state and local law enforcement agencies to undertake anti-pirate operations (see 1901170042). The House passed companion bill HR-583 in February (see 1902250061). The Senate Commerce markup will begin at 10 a.m. in G50 Dirksen.