Bill to End Shutdown Includes $108.5 Million for USDA Rural Broadband Programs
A compromise package to reopen the federal government (HR-5371) that the House and Senate are expected to vote on soon (see 2511100022) would also enact FY 2026 funding for the Agriculture Department with more rural broadband money than Congress proposed earlier this year. HR-5371’s USDA funding section includes $108.5 million for rural broadband programs, 13% more than the $96 million that the House and Senate included in slightly different versions of a minibus funding bill they passed in June (HR-3944).
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HR-5371 would allocate $50.75 million for the ReConnect program, 45% more than it got in HR-3944. But that’s still 44% less than the House Appropriations Committee originally proposed for the program in its earlier FY26 USDA bill (HR-4121). Senate Agriculture Committee members eyed ReConnect’s funding during a confirmation hearing last week for Glen Smith, President Donald Trump’s nominee for agriculture undersecretary for rural development (see 2511050062).
The House-Senate conference report on the compromise FY26 USDA language emphasized that ReConnect “should largely serve rural communities which are 90 percent lacking Internet connectivity speeds of 25/3 [Mbps], while avoiding service areas already subject to a buildout obligation involving any State or Federal funds.” The report also reminded USDA that ReConnect “is intended to be technology neutral and should consider projects which are able to showcase scalability for future need, speed of deployment to unserved areas, and cost per location of deployment while ensuring buildout speeds of at least 100/20 [Mbps]. Further, the agreement urges [USDA’s Rural Development division] to take action to increase access to broadband on Tribal lands.”