Broadband 'In The Game' for COVID Relief

Democratic congressional staffers are signaling fresh optimism that some money for broadband will make it into another coronavirus relief package long mulled on Capitol Hill. Republicans are “proceeding politically a little more cautiously right now” in deference to GOP leadership, but “we know privately that there are Republicans that would be very supportive of spending more money on E-Rate or Lifeline or Rural Healthcare,” said Joey Wender, senior policy adviser to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). Those Federal Communications Commission subsidy programs are aimed at helping to get more Americans digitally connected. Broadband “is going to be in the game for sure,” Wender added. He predicted congressional leaders will ultimately determine “a total number” for how much money to allocate for expanding access to broadband internet “and that’s going to have to get split up” among competing priorities. One partisan divide is over whether to funnel money to these existing FCC subsidy programs or to stand up new pilot initiatives. Republicans have favored the latter, saying pilots could deliver money quicker and with more flexibility (as Congress did Congress when it designated $200 million for an FCC telehealth program in March’s CARES Act). However, Wender and Asad Ramzanali, a staffer for Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), defended the use of traditional commission programs like E-Rate. “The fear is if we start creating new programs, it just takes so long for those to get up and running,” cautioned Wender.