Sen Maggie Hassan (D-NH)

Sens Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to help states, cities, and towns spur investment in rural broadband projects. The bipartisan Rural Broadband Financing Flexibility Act would allow state and local governments to issue tax-exempt bonds to finance rural broadband projects, including public private partnerships, as well as allow the federal government to assist state and local governments in bond payments. In addition, it would create a federal tax credit that states and localities could direct toward rural broadband projects.

Three senators urged the Federal Communications Commission to administer the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBBP) in a way that helps address the longstanding digital divides that block too many Americans from securing a reliable, affordable broadband connection.

Sen Maggie Hassan (D-NH) led 27 of her colleagues in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, expressing concern over reports that bots filed hundreds of thousands of comments to the FCC during the network neutrality policymaking process and calling on the Chairman to delay the planned December 14th vote to roll back net neutrality rules until an investigation of the state of the record is conducted.

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, 14 U.S. senators express extreme concern will plans to roll back network neutrality rules.

Net neutrality is particularly important to women, as it affords women-owned businesses and startups an even playing field when competing with more established brands and content. Between 2007 and 2016, while the total number of firms increased by 9 percent, the number of women-owned firms increased by 45 percent - meaning that over this period the number of women-owned firms grew at a rate fully five times the national average.1 This growth mirrors the emergence of the Internet as a platform for economic growth. The online sales platform, Etsy, is another example of how women thrive under a free and open Internet. Under the current net neutrality regime, Etsy has empowered sellers in every state across the country, 87 percent of whom are women. An open Internet is also vital to providing a platform for elevating voices that are underrepresented or marginalized in traditional media, an experience many women in media know well. When turned away by traditional media outlets, many female creators have found a home and an audience for their stories on the open Internet. The vast array of online media platforms enabled by net neutrality give creators permission-less access to viewers, providing autonomy for women of every color and creed to tell rich, compelling stories in their own voices. In addition, an open Internet has allowed women to organize and create positive change in their communities.