Pelosi, Clyburn Say Some Broadband Issues Are Priorities in COVID-19 Bill

The plan Clyburn and other Democrats released Thursday mirrors the January proposal by including $86 billion for broadband, including $80 billion in direct investments. The new plan includes $5 billion for a proposed NTIA-administered broadband infrastructure finance and innovation program that communities and public-private partnerships can use, reflecting the earlier Broadband Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (HR-4127). The plan also includes $1.4 billion in funding for digital equity investments, which mirrors a proposal in the Digital Equity Act (HR-4486/S-1167). A call for increasing “existing payment support for consumers” and “eligibility for and applicability of support” reflects draft text being circulated by Pallone that seeks $2 billion of “emergency broadband benefit” (see 2004140062), said a telecom lobbyist who focuses on House Democrats.

The Democrats’ proposal includes language from the House-passed Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access, and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand (Access Broadband) Act (HR-1328/S-1046) that would establish the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth within NTIA (see 1905080081). The plan has a provision resembling HR-1693, which would make deployment of Wi-Fi equipment on school buses eligible for E-rate funding. It also includes language reflecting the Closing the Homework Gap Through Mobile Hotspots Act (HR-5243) to provide devices to students without internet access at home.

Broadband will remain an important part of a hoped-for future infrastructure legislative package (see 2004030055), but “we might be able to get a piece” of the proposal into the next COVID-19 bill, including funding for telehealth and distance learning, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a news conference. “It is important for people to be connected” amid the pandemic. “We’re not coming back” next week amid ongoing concerns about health conditions in the Capitol but will return “the following week" to begin work on the legislation, she said.

Addressing broadband in the next aid measure is needed because expanded access is “very, very necessary” to recovering from the epidemic, Clyburn told reporters. His House Democratic Rural Broadband Task Force worked with House Commerce to shape the plan released Thursday. “If you’re going to have effective treatment” and testing, “you’ve got to have broadband,” Clyburn said. “If we are going to experience ... another round of this virus, our children are apt to be out of school again next year. And if that were to happen, the only way you can have online learning is with broadband." Clyburn noted President Donald Trump’s renewed emphasis on making broadband a priority in the next aid measure (see 2004210060).

GOP Interest

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a separate news conference “broadband is a very good discussion” to have as part of work on the next COVID-19 bill. It’s “an appropriate discussion for us to have regardless of whether we're doing an infrastructure bill or not,” he said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voiced reluctance to including infrastructure funding in the next measure. His office didn’t comment on whether he would be open to including broadband money in the package.

“There is an opportunity” to address broadband funding in the next legislative package, though “it’s an open question” whether a centralized focus on infrastructure spending as part of the bill is possible, Walden said. “There will be a lot of other demands” for funding as part of the package, including from state and local governments. “There is beginning to be a little reluctance to just keep the printing presses running at a record pace to print money,” given the amount of money Congress appropriated to stem pandemic-caused economic losses, he said.

Walden would be open to including some emergency broadband funding for programs like Lifeline and E-rate, but “we’ve got to be thoughtful about what that means and how it interacts with the existing” USF apparatus. “There is a big opportunity for telehealth” and remote learning that lawmakers need to address, Walden said. He wants Congress to consider making permanent some temporary waivers of federal rules affecting telehealth that it included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, the most recent aid bill (see 2003270058). Walden wants the next measure to include funding for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998), which provides funding to help U.S. communications providers remove from their networks Chinese equipment determined to threaten national security (see 2003040056).

The House Democrats’ broadband proposal “is something of a mixed bag,” said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Broadband and Spectrum Policy Director Doug Brake. “We should finish the job with rural infrastructure, and we definitely need a more robust Lifeline system.” Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff praised the plan. The Wireless ISP Association also wants to learn the details, saying it “provides a significant amount of funding” to improve connectivity.

E-rate

Ed Markey of Massachusetts and three other Senate Democrats -- Michael Bennett of Colorado, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland -- said Thursday they plan to file the modified Senate companion to HR-6563. The Senate version would allocate $4 billion to an FCC-run Emergency Connectivity Fund, which would disperse money to schools and libraries to buy Wi-Fi hot spots and other devices. HR-6563 proposed $2 billion. “Given the magnitude of this pandemic and its effects on teaching, we must increase our investment beyond $2 billion to $4 billion,” the senators said in a statement.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and others emphasized their earlier call for Congress to include $5.25 billion in emergency E-rate funding in the next COVID-19 measure (see 2004280068). Legislation should make sure additional funding covers monthly service costs for residential broadband, and not just devices, said SHLB Executive Director John Windhausen on a webcast. It should allow schools to deploy low-cost broadband to local constituents and fund cybersecurity to prevent network outages, he said. "If Congress doesn't appropriate the entire $5.25 billion, some students will be left behind," he said: E-rate is the quickest way to get funds out.

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Funds for Learning and the State Educational Technology Directors Association also support the E-rate funding. The groups hope Congress can act in May and the FCC will act in late May or early June, and that the agency opens a special E-rate filing window in June or July and an expedited approval process so that funds can flow very soon thereafter.

SETDA Executive Director Candice Dodson wants school districts to have the summer months to put connectivity plans in place. CoSN CEO Keith Krueger called cybersecurity a top priority among IT departments at school districts.