Rural Broadband Fix Gets Year-End Priority for House Agriculture Chairman David Scott

House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-GA) is pressing to expand by the end of 2021 high-speed internet access to all 24 million Americans without it. The deadline from Chairman Scott comes as bipartisan lawmakers and the broadband industry call for a permanent solution to internet access hurdles in remote locales, instead of relying on pilot loan programs. Whether such a plan will be included in a broader infrastructure package, tacked onto the next farm bill, or pushed through as stand-alone legislation, remains to be seen. “We here in the House Agriculture Committee can be the vanguard to now pass the money we need, get it out there in our communities,” Chairman Scott said at his committee’s rural broadband hearing April 20. Despite discussing rural broadband challenges for over a decade, lawmakers remain divided on issues of cost, technology, and the role of the private sector.