Tech Priorities MIA in Senate GOP's COVID-19 Plan

As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his colleagues outlined their opening salvo for coronavirus relief, there was scant sign of tech priorities, no provisions to close the digital divide (even ones top Republicans had floated) and not even the GOP’s own proposed virus-related data privacy safeguards. Democrats adamantly have pushed for billions of dollars to help keep low-income families and stuck-at-home students digitally connected. The GOP proposal does include $1 billion to subsidize the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to rip out and replace Huawei and ZTE gear from the US telecom marketplace (half of what FCC Chair Ajit Pai has requested) as well as provisions aimed at boosting the US semiconductor industry. House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) revealed he didn’t see broadband funding as a must. “I don’t know that we need to go down the path of permanent subsidization of broadband connectivity,” he cautioned during a Cooley law firm webinar, pointing instead to the telecom industry’s voluntary efforts as well as lawmakers’ other Covid-19 economic assists like direct payments. But with Democrats balking, expect plenty to evolve with negotiation.