Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act (Farm Bill), which would authorize $650 million for the ReConnect rural broadband grant and loan program for each fiscal year from 2025 through 2029. The measure would devote $350 million to direct loans for each fiscal year from 2025 to 2029.
The Farm Bill establishes a grant, loan, and grant and loan combination program for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment for broadband service in rural areas. ReConnect projects must be 100 Mbps symmetrical in areas where at least 75 percent of the households lack access to broadband service of at least 100 Mbps/20 Mbps, according to the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. It prioritizes projects in areas where at least 90 percent of households lack access to broadband service of at least 100 Mbps/20 Mbps.
The Farm Bill improves mapping and award coordination between the USDA, NTIA, and the FCC. It requires FCC’s broadband coverage maps to be considered in making ReConnect awards. Awardees must participate in federal internet affordability assistance programs.
The Farm Bill would also expand authorization of funding for middle-mile infrastructure, the Innovative Broadband Advancement Program, the Community Connect Grant Program, and guarantees for bonds and notes issued for telecommunication purposes through fiscal year 2029. Additionally, the bill would increase appropriations to $15 million for each fiscal year from 2025 through 2029 for rural development loans and grants. It also extends appropriations for expanding 911 access through fiscal year 2029, according to Womble Bond Dickinson’s Rural Spectrum Scanner.
The measure contains more than 100 bipartisan bills and puts the 2024 Farm Bill back on track to being signed into law by the end of 2024, notes Stabenow. “The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act reflects more than two years of bipartisan work on the Senate Agriculture Committee and incorporates more than 100 bipartisan bills and the work of Senators on and off the Committee,” she states.
NTCA-the Rural Broadband Association said ReConnect and other USDA broadband programs covered in the bill “are critical to helping meet the connectivity needs of rural Americans. We appreciate Chairwoman Stabenow’s focus on ensuring ReConnect is authorized as part of the bill and believe the program’s broadband speed standards will help ensure rural consumers can receive the same level of service as those in urban areas, while targeting funding to areas most in need of service.”
The association continued: “NTCA members and staff have welcomed the opportunity to testify before the Senate and House Agriculture Committees to share the importance of investing in broadband networks built for the long term and encouraging coordination across federal broadband programs. We are pleased to see a commitment to these standards of service in the Chairwoman’s Farm Bill.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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