Will lawmakers really pass $65B for broadband?

At stake is a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that would devote $65 billion to broadband efforts and a Democrats-only $3.5 trillion social spending package with its own billions for broadband, privacy and other tech and telecommunications priorities. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told her Democratic colleagues that the House would begin floor debate on the bipartisan infrastructure bill on September 27 and hold a vote on September 30, following comments she made about the possibility of delaying the vote past its original deadline. In a rare weekend markup, the House Budget Committee met to approve the social spending bill, which retained its various tech and telecommunications bits, such as language to boost privacy efforts at the Federal Trade Commission and expand broadband initiatives to support distance learning. Yet it “seems self-evident” that the final topline number will be pared down, according to Pelosi. Even before that $3.5 trillion number shrinks, some lawmakers are worried there isn’t enough for broadband in the two bills. Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said she and some of her Senate colleagues believe proposals on broadband affordability are still “very lacking” and will “need attention.” While the bipartisan Senate infrastructure package would make permanent the Emergency Broadband Benefit program to subsidize consumers’ internet bills, it would also slash the monthly benefit for that program from $50 to $30.