Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted President Joe Biden’s proposed $100 billion broadband request Monday in selling the administration’s overall $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal (see 2104140069). Biden, meanwhile, discussed the plan with 10 members of Congress who are former governors or mayors. “The world runs online,” but “millions of Americans, many of whom live in rural America, do not have access to broadband,” Harris said during a speech in Jamestown, North Carolina. “If they do, it is not affordable.” Biden “and I are determined to make sure that every person in our country can access broadband and afford it,” Harris said. Biden told reporters he’s “prepared to compromise” on aspects of his proposal, including its scope. “I’m prepared to see what we can do and what we can get together on” in a compromise, he said. “It’s a big package, but there are a lot of needs.” Lawmakers participating in the meeting included Senate Commerce Committee member John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and House Appropriations Committee ranking member Kay Granger, R-Texas. “We’re quite open to a range of mechanisms for agreed-upon legislation moving forward,” including “smaller packages” or “pieces being peeled off,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. “In terms of what the package or size looks like, we’re just not quite there yet.” Some industry officials have also been meeting with lawmakers in hopes of allocating some infrastructure money for 5G-specific uses, lobbyists told us. Microsoft President Brad Smith backed Biden’s proposal Sunday but issued cautions in a USA Today opinion piece. “A challenging conversation awaits about how to pay for all this,” he said. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., wrote in USA Today that “a bipartisan infrastructure bill is possible if Democrats are interested in working with Republicans on traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and even modern infrastructure like broadband, if done correctly.”
Jimm Phillips
Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC
Senators in both parties continued to emphasize the importance of communications sector interests in an eventual infrastructure spending package Thursday, as talks continued on the scope of such legislation. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said during a Communications Subcommittee hearing that she’s going to push for local media outlets to receive some funding in a final infrastructure bill. Committee ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi and other Republicans said they’re committed to including broadband language in a planned counterproposal to President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package (see 2104140069).
Lead GOP Endless Frontier Act sponsor Sen. Todd Young of Indiana indicated after a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing that fellow Republicans are unlikely to support a floor vote on the bill by the end of the month, as hoped by lead Democratic sponsor Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Senate Commerce Republicans raised a litany of concerns Wednesday about a to-be-filed revised version of the measure (see 2104130068), but most committee members appeared interested in some increase in science and tech research funding.
National Emergency Number Association officials urged its members during a Tuesday event to lobby lawmakers to modify next-generation 911 language in the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-1848) and pass the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act (HR-2351). Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., touted HR-2351 during the NENA event as necessary to “support and maintain the men and women of our 911 dispatcher community, who serve as our first emergency line of support.” The refiled measure would change the federal government's classification of public safety call-takers and dispatchers to "protective service occupations" (see 1904050054). NENA Government Affairs Director Dan Henry emphasized that the group backs HR-1848’s proposed $15 billion in NG-911 funding but seeks changes to some elements of the associated policy language, including broadening its definition of “commonly accepted standards,” clarifying its interoperability requirement and limiting the scope of a proposed NG-911 Advisory Board within NTIA (see 2104080003). “Both of the parties are hoping for a bipartisan solution here,” Henry said. He wants members to meet with House Commerce Committee lawmakers, as well as Senate Commerce Committee members, because a Senate-side companion to HR-1848 hasn't been filed.
President Joe Biden said he's "prepared to negotiate" with Republicans on the size and scope of an infrastructure spending package, but "it’s going to get down to what we call infrastructure," as he began a Monday meeting with Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other lawmakers on the subject. Biden told reporters, "I think broadband is infrastructure. It's not just roads, bridges, highways, et cetera." Biden's proposal includes $100 billion for broadband, in line with Democrats' legislation (see 2103310064). Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also cited the infrastructure definition debate, tweeting, "Why would anyone turn against broadband because it's not a bridge, or come out against water pipes because they're not highways?" Democrats "just spent nearly $2 trillion on a COVID relief package -- the majority of which did not go to immediate pandemic problems," Wicker tweeted after the meeting. "Now, @POTUS has a $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, but not even 70% of it could be called infrastructure. Where does the spending end?" Republicans are "wary" about whether Biden's meetings with the party's lawmakers are actually aimed at "working out a bipartisan deal, or if they are about window dressing that will lead to another Democrat-only reconciliation process," a Senate GOP aide said. The White House released fact sheets before the meeting outlining each state's infrastructure needs. For instance, "26% of Mississippians live in areas where, by one definition, there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds," that state's fact sheet said. "And 50.1% of Mississippians live in areas where there is only one such internet provider. Even where infrastructure is available, broadband may be too expensive to be within reach. 23% of Mississippi households do not have an internet subscription. The American Jobs Plan will invest $100 billion to bring universal, reliable, high-speed and affordable coverage to every family in America."
Public safety communications leaders told us they remain divided on the next-generation 911 language in the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-1848) as the House Commerce Committee eyes how to proceed on the measure. HR-1848 allocates $15 billion for NG-911, along with $80 billion for broadband deployments (see 2103110060). The National Emergency Number Association and National Association of State 911 Administrators are continuing to press committee Democrats to modify HR-1848 language they view as impinging on existing NG-911 work. APCO continues to back the NG-911 provisions and countered opponents’ claims during a webinar last week.
Some members of Congress are taking a tentative renewed look at legislation to reallocate proceeds from the FCC's recent auction of spectrum from the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band to pay for broadband, before Capitol Hill's debate over infrastructure spending. President Joe Biden proposes $2.3 trillion for infrastructure, including $100 billion for broadband (see 2103310064). Republicans criticized the administration for pursuing corporate tax increases to help pay for it.
President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal, which includes $100 billion for broadband (see 2103310064), got attention during a Thursday meeting between administration officials and six community broadband groups, participants told us. ACA Connects, the Competitive Carriers Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, NTCA, Rural Wireless Association and the Wireless ISP Association participated in the meeting, a WISPA spokesperson confirmed. The groups didn’t object to the general plan the White House released Wednesday, but they want to hear more details, the spokesperson said. The meeting was cordial and had been set before the proposal’s release as a “get to know you” introduction of the industry groups. It appears the Biden administration is “still working out the details” and is in a fact-finding mode aimed at making the plan better, said a lobbyist. The White House appeared interested in how to improve the federal government’s collection of broadband coverage data and “boost competition and affordability,” the lobbyist said. Administration officials didn’t appear to have specific proposals on minimum broadband speed requirements. CCA “was pleased to participate in the discussion,” a spokesperson said. The White House and other participating groups didn’t comment. Biden said Thursday he’s designating five Cabinet-level officials to “take special responsibility” to sell his infrastructure plan to the public, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The Fiber Broadband Association praised the proposal Thursday, while the Wireless Infrastructure Association praised its proposed funding for registered apprenticeships. ACA, CTA and TechNet gave mixed assessments based on what they know so far.
President Joe Biden’s administration proposed $100 billion in broadband spending Wednesday as part of the $2 trillion American Jobs Plan infrastructure proposal. That level of spending and Biden’s calls for legislation to improve broadband pricing transparency and affordability mirror Democratic lawmakers' Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR-1783/S-745) and Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act (HR-1848), as expected (see 2103160001). Reaction to the plan divided along party lines.
Democrats are eager to leverage their newfound unified control of Congress to advance their preferred form of net neutrality legislation, after more than a decade in which conditions in one or both chambers inhibited their path. Some advocates believe lawmakers should move beyond simply codifying FCC-rescinded 2015 rules into statute. Opponents of bringing back those rules believe Democrats’ narrow margins in both chambers preclude them from enacting a measure during this Congress.