Proponents of tax relief for broadband deployment projects want P...
Proponents of tax relief for broadband deployment projects want President Bush to consider incorporating 2- tiered tax credit plan into White House technology policy. Legislation (HR-267) by Reps. English (R-Pa.) and Matsui (D- Cal.), which has 194 co-sponsors, would…
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provide 10% and 20% tax credit for deployment of current generation and next generation broadband equipment, respectively. Companion bill (S-88) by Sen. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has identical language and 65 supporters. English staffer said that encouraging Administration to adopt tax proposal rather than waiting for HR-267 to make it to President’s desk shouldn’t be misconstrued as lack of confidence in bill’s movement: “It’s an effort to make sure that the White House knows the proposal exists and has bipartisan support.” Since Administration still is developing its technology policy, it may want to consider taking action on broadband tax relief as spelled out in HR-267 and S-88, English spokeswoman said. Access to “transitional broadband technologies” is possible in many U.S. cities and suburbs via cable and phone lines, while “many rural and low-income areas are still deprived of even those interim steps,” 54 House members wrote Bush Feb. 7. They said that widespread support in both Houses and from numerous private sector businesses and citizens’ groups “indicates a general recognition of the need to extend a high-speed information system to all Americans. This legislation provides a vehicle for delivering such a system, and we hope you will include it in any comprehensive policy proposals that you develop.”