Could the 2023 Farm Bill deliver even more broadband funding?

Congress already allocated $65 billion for broadband in 2021 via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), but as negotiations over the 2023 Farm Bill get underway some are angling for even more cash to boost rural broadband. According to the Congressional Research Service, the Farm Bill is a sprawling piece of legislation covering agricultural and food programs that are revisited every five years or so. The last Farm Bill was passed in late 2018, meaning it is up for renewal in the back half of 2023. Rural broadband programs administered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been a part of the Farm Bill since 2002. The ReConnect Program is probably the best-known of these, but the USDA also oversees the Telecommunications Infrastructure Program, Rural Broadband Program (RBP), Community Connect Grant Program (CCGP), and Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program (DLTP). Despite a seeming glut of broadband funding for other programs like the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, there appears to be an appetite for more money for rural deployments. Congressman David Scott (D-GA), who is the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, named broadband as one of his priorities for the upcoming Farm Bill, stating, "We must ensure that appropriate funding is given to USDA to help us bridge the digital divide between rural and urban America;" Though, it is unclear how much money Rep Scott would consider "appropriate."