American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

In the next Congress, the Republican House majority will have the obligation and authority to conduct rigorous oversight of the federal government, including using the government’s vast power to attempt to coerce private businesses to act against the freedoms and security of our citizens. Areas of oversight will include:

Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) said that internet providers will receive nearly $100 million to expand broadband coverage to more Minnesotans, representing the largest single investment in broadband infrastructure in state history. In total, 61 broadband expansion projects around Minnesota will receive $99.6 million in grants from the Border-to-Border Broadband program administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)'s Office of Broadband Development.

The US Department of the Treasury approved broadband projects in two additional states under the American Rescue Plan Act's (ARPA) Capital Projects Fund (CPF): Colorado and New Mexico. Together, these states will use their funding to connect nearly 60,000 homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet.

Clearwave Fiber’s installation of ultra-fast, state-of-the-art, all-Fiber Internet network is nearly complete in Lansing, Kansas, enabling over 3,100 locations for fiber services. This latest launch for the Savannah-based operation marks a continuation of almost 6,000 route miles of Fiber in the Southeast and Midwest.

Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), joined by Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Drew Ferguson (R-GA), authored and introduced H.R. 9449, The Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act, bipartisan legislation to amend the Internal Revenue Code to ensure that funding directed for the implementation of broadband from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will not be considered taxable income. This bill was introduced in the Senate by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) and joined by Sens.

The Federal Communications Commission committed nearly $54 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Program, which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.

US Senator John Thune (R-SD) will launch a nationwide oversight effort that will review numerous broadband programs spanning several federal agencies. The primary goal of Thune’s effort is to hold these agencies accountable and ensure that previously authorized broadband funding is being used in the most efficient way possible to protect taxpayer dollars. Sen Thune seeks input on the current broadband regulatory structure from a diverse group of stakeholders, including broadband associations, public interest groups, and free market think tanks.

In May 2021, the Florida Legislature passed the Florida Broadband Deployment Act of 2021, codifying the Florida Office of Broadband, which had been created in the previous year within the state's Department of Economic Opportunity.

How much broadband will Americans get for the $75 billion that Congress committed in 2021? That’s enough money to equip an additional 17 million households with broadband, taking the US to 99 percent broadband coverage, according to a Federal Communications Commission staff paper and data from the Census Bureau.

Cox Communications has filed a formal protest over Escambia County’s (FL) decision to select the Escambia River Electric Cooperative for a rural broadband project.