Senate Democratic Plan on Infrastructure Includes $20 Billion to Expand Broadband
Senate Republicans pushed back against the $1 trillion, 10-year infrastructure plan that Senate Democrats began unveiling Tuesday. But senators from both parties say any effort should involve broadband. The Senate Democrats’ plan attempts to pre-empt the $1 trillion package that President Donald Trump said he wants Congress to advance.
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Of that $1 trillion is "$20 billion expanding broadband,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promised Tuesday, describing the package's provisions during a news conference. That’s several billion more than the Obama administration included in stimulus efforts. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., alluded to the plan at a committee markup, calling it a “robust blueprint to rebuild America’s infrastructure.”
The $20 billion would create 260,000 new jobs, a summary of the plan said. “To close the rural-urban divide, and to push toward ubiquitous access to high-speed broadband, we will invest $20 billion to fund the build out of high-speed broadband in unserved and underserved areas,” the document said. “This funding will be available to projects currently eligible under programs at both the Department of Commerce and the US Department of Agriculture. We also propose expanding the programs to enable grant recipients to use grant funds to deploy various types of infrastructure capable of offering middle-mile, last-mile wired and wireless broadband access, and adding evaluation criteria in the awards process to ensure that the funding goes to the most effective and efficient uses. Finally, we propose ensuring additional funding is available to help upgrade our nation’s aging 9-1-1 system and other critical infrastructure technology.” Legislative text for the proposal wasn't unveiled.
The $100 billion invested in energy infrastructure would in part be devoted to protecting the grid against cyberattacks.
“We’ll look at it, yeah,” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters of the Democratic plan. “We’re obviously a big believer that infrastructure defined should include broadband. There are a lot of places in the country that still don’t have high-speed internet service.” But Thune, a member of leadership, stood beside Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., later Tuesday as GOP leaders questioned the merits of such spending. “As [McConnell] pointed out, I don’t think we want to go down the path of another $1 trillion stimulus,” Thune told reporters later.
“I can tell you what I’m against -- a replication of the Obama stimulus package,” McConnell told reporters. “My understanding is the administration has a team who are putting together a proposal we can all take a look at.” He hopes that administration proposal is “credibly paid for” and would like to tackle infrastructure in that way.
Thune and Nelson backed inclusion of broadband in the past. Nelson told us he wanted it in any infrastructure proposal from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and Thune invoked its inclusion in a speech Monday. Commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross also told Senate Commerce last week that broadband is an “essential” part of infrastructure spending.
Schumer held a news conference Tuesday to tout the proposal alongside several Democratic senators. “We have to expand broadband access, especially in rural areas,” said Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., at that event.
Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black lauded inclusion of broadband in the Democrats’ plan. “We need higher speeds and stronger broadband networks to remain competitive,” Black said in a statement. “Broadband buildout done properly would create a wave of jobs and leave better access to high speed broadband for more citizens in its wake. Broadband buildout is an issue that does have and should have broad, bipartisan support. We appreciate the steps Democrats and Republicans are now taking to make their shared goals a reality for the thousands of citizens who need high speed internet access and the jobs that would bring.”
“There probably is some appetite” to look to repatriation of corporate dollars to pay for infrastructure funding, Thune told reporters, citing previous bipartisan efforts to that effect. The spending could be combined with tax overhaul, he added. Democrats “have some pretty ambitious plans on infrastructure,” Thune said. “How that fits into tax reform and whether that hitches a ride on tax reform remains to be seen.” He expects the GOP meeting of senators and representatives in Philadelphia later this week to discuss the matter, he said.