Senate Republicans are trying to influence where the debate over broadband spending is going. Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi and eight of his colleagues asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to move any broadband-related provisions through the committee process. That would give the lawmakers the chance to mark up the broadband provisions of any infrastructure legislation through regular order.
“Over the past year, billions of dollars have been appropriated to multiple agencies to expand broadband access across the country,” lawmakers wrote in a letter. “Although no formal accounting has been conducted to evaluate how or where that money has been spent, efforts are underway to spend billions more on broadband.”
They “fear that rushed legislative efforts that bypass the committee’s deliberative process and technical analysis will ultimately repeat the failures of past broadband programs.” They describe failures such as “rampant overbuilding, duplication of existing private and public sector investments, unfinished projects, and millions of unconnected Americans.”
Wicker has stressed the importance of agencies to account for the disbursement of funds before billions more are spent on broadband in another legislative vehicle. Wicker urged the Department of the Treasury to coordinate efforts with the other federal agencies supporting broadband deployment to make sure funding is not going to areas that already have broadband service or where existing funding is pending, Inside Towers reported.
Other lawmakers signing the letter were: Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).
Members of the Senate’s bipartisan negotiating team say they’re “close” to an agreement deal, despite Wednesday’s failed procedural vote. The New York Times reported that several Senate Republicans said they would support a rescheduled vote as early as Monday if a deal could be reached by then.
Reader Interactions