UPDATE The Senate voted Thursday evening to pass its FAA reauthorization package without an amendment that would have funded the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and Rip & Replace. A bipartisan group of legislators had hoped to attach an amendment to the FAA bill to use future spectrum auction proceeds to funnel an extra $6 billion for the ACP and $3 billion to fully fund Rip & Replace, Inside Towers reported.
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called a vote Thursday evening after it became clear that senators would not be able to agree on amendments to the bill before it expired, CBS reported. After the bill passed, leaders in both parties worked out how to pass an extension and ensure the law didn’t expire Friday. The House passed a one-week extension earlier last week.
Lawmakers voted 88 to 4 on the measure, which extends the FAA’s authority for five years. Sixty votes were needed to pass the measure. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD); Tim Kaine (D-VA); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); and Mark Warner (D-VA) were the only no votes, reported The Hill.
Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), one of the ACP amendment’s supporters, spoke in favor of the measure on the Senate floor, reading multiple constituent letters detailing reliance on the program, according to Broadband Breakfast. “It sort of breaks my heart when a constituent who can’t afford internet service is writing to us apologizing for a program’s budgetary hit when it’s a tiny, tiny slice of the American federal budget,” he said. “If we can afford to fund military conflicts the world over, can’t we afford to provide basic connectivity and services for our own people?”
Republicans have been concerned about waste in the ACP program, Inside Towers reported. Remaining legislative options include proposed legislation from Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA), which would reinstate the FCC’s spectrum auction authority and tap the proceeds for ACP and Rip and Replace funding, and a House bill currently languishing in committee. The Senate Commerce Committee has yet to vote on Cantwell’s proposal.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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