Senate Streamlines RUS Broadband Program in Farm Bill Vote
The Senate voted on changes to the Department of Agriculture’s RUS broadband program Wednesday and rejected several attempts to cap agency funding to expand broadband access in rural areas. The provisions were among the 73 amendments lawmakers considered in the ten-year 2012 Farm Bill. The Senate was poised to pass the bill Thursday but still had 40 remaining amendments to consider by our deadline.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Senators passed by a voice vote an amendment by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., that would accelerate broadband access to rural areas by requiring that at least 25 percent of households in a proposed project area qualify as unserved or underserved. The amendment also aimed to improve RUS reporting requirements to collect more accurate data on service recipients, average broadband speeds and service availability maps. The amendment was co-sponsored by Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Mark Kirk, R-Ill., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Jim Webb, D-Va.
The NCTA hailed the amendment’s passage, which they said would help the government limit subsidized overbuilding of broadband infrastructure and focus its efforts on “extending access to the roughly 18 million Americans currently without broadband.”
OPASTCO Legislative Policy Director Randy Tyree said the group was not happy that the amendment passed. “We think a lot of this process will slow down the use of the RUS fund and the program, and that’s why we opposed the amendment,” he said. “With all the uncertainty from the universal service changes and intercarrier compensation changes, our members will need the RUS program more than ever. … They need an RUS that is understandable and efficient and easy to use and this will have the effect of slowing down the fund.” Tyree did, however, credit Warner with dropping a requirement for address level data and a preferential requirement for first time applicants.
The Senate rejected two amendments proposed by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., aimed at capping funding levels for the department’s rural broadband programs. The first would have mandated a freeze on current USDA funding levels for programs providing access to broadband telecommunications service in rural areas. The Senate also voted down a DeMint provision to eliminate the authority of the agriculture secretary to increase the amount of broadband telecommunications grants for entities serving rural areas.
DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton said it’s “jaw-dropping that with nearly a $16 trillion debt, a majority of senators can’t even take the smallest step toward fiscal responsibility. These amendments didn’t even cut spending, they simply would have protected taxpayers from unnecessary spending increases.”
The body rejected an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to prohibit the use of USDA funds for reality television shows. The provision stems from the USDA Market Access Program, which spends federal dollars on U.S. product advertising, including an Indian TV reality show called “Let’s Design,” which is produced by the Cotton Council International.