House Ag Republicans Bow Bill to Up USDA Rural Broadband Role
House Agriculture Committee ranking member Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania and 21 other committee Republicans filed the Broadband for Rural America Act Thursday in a bid to give the Agriculture Department more power to oversee rural connectivity buildout at the FCC's…
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expense. The measure would codify USDA’s ReConnect broadband program and set annual funding for its rural connectivity programs at $3.7 billion. It would set minimum speeds for recipients’ services at 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. USDA “is the one that has the expertise” to effectively oversee rural broadband buildout, Thompson told reporters Thursday. The FCC “had their chance and they haven’t gotten it done,” said Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga.