Sen Jerry Moran (R-KS)

On March 28, lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and US Senate reintroduced bipartian legislation to expand broadband access to rural communities. The Reforming Broadband Connectivity Act would strengthen funding mechanisms for the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Universal Service Fund (USF), which promotes universal access to broadband and other telecommunications services. Currently, the USF is primarily funded through landline fees, disproportionately impacting seniors, who are more likely to use landlines than other Americans.

Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced the Consumer Data Privacy and Security Act to strengthen the laws that govern consumers’ personal data and create clear standards and regulations for American businesses that collect, process and use consumers’ personally identifiable data. The Consumer Data Privacy and Security Act would:

As senators who have been working to close the digital divide, we believe federal policy must continue to promote the expansion of broadband access across rural America. Consumers and innovators deserve clear rules of the road that will continue to ensure the internet remains an open marketplace, will drive our online economy and will support investment throughout our internet ecosystem.

[Commentary] Schools in rural areas routinely get less funding per student than those in wealthier, urban areas. For example, E-Rate distributes to students in Washington, DC, roughly three times the amount that Kansas students receive -- even though our nation’s capital has a much larger tax base and broadband is cheaper to deploy there than in rural Kansas.

Indeed, small Kansas towns from Colby to Coffeyville and Elkhart to Seneca tend to get less money than large school districts with more resources.

These disparities undermine E-Rate’s core mission of giving rural schools the same technological tools as their urban and suburban counterparts. One reason for this unfair distribution of funding is the complex E-Rate application process.

To apply for E-Rate funds, schools must complete a seven-step process with six application forms spanning 17 pages -- just for basic service. If a school wants to invest in a technology the federal government does not consider a priority, additional paperwork is required. Moreover, schools are required to sign service contracts months before the school year begins, and possibly years before the school knows if E-Rate funding will even be available to offset the cost of those services.

All of this means that it is expensive and burdensome to apply. E-Rate also doesn’t give schools a budget. That means urban schools at the front of the line often get as much money as they want while many rural schools at the back of the line must make do with what is left.

The result is some schools using E-Rate to subsidize BlackBerrys for administrators while other schools can’t even get funding for classroom Wi-Fi. That’s not right. To fulfill E-Rate’s promise to all of our students, we must cut the bureaucracy and refocus the program on our children’s needs. We must create a student-centered E-Rate program.