Prominent Democrats across both chambers of Congress are gearing up to push elaborate broadband spending measures in infrastructure negotiations, despite some pushback from Republicans over the dollar amounts.
High-stakes infrastructure negotiations are expected this spring, according to Politico. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), who chairs the Rural Broadband Caucus, proposed an $80 billion investment to expand access to connectivity to unserved and underserved locations. He defines that as 100 Megabits-per-second for upload and download, the same benchmark that Senate Democrats recently said should be the new standard across federal agencies, Inside Towers reported.
The $80 billion figure shows that Democrats are unlikely to ease up on ambitious spending goals, even as some Republicans question whether there are more affordable and effective alternatives, noted Politico.
Welch’s proposal aligns with infrastructure investments that Democrats have previously floated, including in a high-profile package assembled last year by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC). Clyburn pledged to reintroduce the package soon. Welch, according to his office, “consulted closely” with both Clyburn, and House Energy and House Commerce Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ), who predicted his panel will take up broadband this spring.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) revived bipartisan legislation, S. 608, to subsidize rural broadband providers so they don’t disconnect customers during the pandemic.
Reader Interactions