Senate Passes FY24 USDA Funding Minibus With Broadband Funding
The Senate voted 82-15 Wednesday night to pass its FY 2024 Agriculture Department “minibus” appropriations bill via a substitute amendment to shell bill HR-4366 with higher funding for some department broadband programs than the House included in its FY24 USDA…
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measure (HR-4368) but a substantial decrease in its ReConnect allocation compared with the lower chamber. The HR-4366 substitute amendment from Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., and ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, gives USDA $62.7 million for rural telemedicine and distance learning grants, up 9% from what the House proposed in HR-4368 (see 2309270046). HR-4366 would give ReConnect $98 million, down more than 174% from the House amount. It would give USDA $35 million for the Community Connect grants program, up 14 % from what the House seeks. The Senate voted 23-74 earlier in the week against an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that sought substantial cuts to USDA’s connectivity programs compared to HR-4368: $43 million for rural telemedicine and distance learning grants, $67.3 million for ReConnect and $24 million for Community Connect. The Senate approved by voice an en bloc amendments package that included proposals from Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, aimed at Department of Veterans Affairs telemedicine funding. Rosen wants to allocate $5.18 billion for the VA “to sustain and increase telehealth capacity, including in rural and highly rural areas, and associated programmatic efforts.” Sullivan wants to direct the VA secretary to prioritize funding for telehealth services, including suicide prevention outreach.