President-elect Joe Biden and congressional Democrats are planning to make federal broadband spending a major priority next year.
Top Democrats have been laying the groundwork to secure billions of dollars in broadband spending to boost access in the country?s rural areas, affordability, and funding for school computers and equipment. Biden has endorsed universal broadband, while Democrats in the House had previously passed $4 billion in emergency aid to help families remain online amid the pandemic. The approved $4 billion was part of pandemic relief. The importance of rural broadband was emphasized earlier this year by Farm Bureau?s Blake Hurst.
?Farming has changed,? Hurst said. ?We used to think that we just grew corn and soybeans?now we generate data, trillions of bits, all containing information that can make us more efficient, economical, and can reduce our environmental impact.?
Hurst went on to say that while most Americans take broadband for granted, more than a quarter of rural Americans lack access, compared to only about two percent of urban Americans. The need for better broadband support has been highlighted by many lawmakers who say there is a ?homework gap.?
?It?s students and individuals in their homes, that just do not have the connectivity?and that?s a huge problem. When you have kids doing their homework in parking lots, that?s just not right. I have kids who I represent, families I represent, school teachers I represent, who cannot access internet at home?teachers, who, when school was still in session, were having to drive to parking lots, to be able to conduct the school lessons.?
We have seen movement on the broadband front over the last few years. In 2018, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to speed federal permitting of rural broadband towers, including on federal lands. Earlier this year, the US House included $24 billion in the HEROES Act. That money was designated to improve broadband mapping, with billions more in subsidies for households, students, schools, and libraries. Republicans in the US Senate went on to propose their own bill. Talks on a compromise broke down.
