President Biden signed an extension to the Farm Bill on Thursday as part of a new appropriations package aimed at averting a government shutdown.
The bill that Biden signed is commonly referred to as stopgap funding because it extends funding for some government programs through January 19 and for others until February 4 of 2024….
What does that mean?
Oveson and Keber confirmed with Telecompetitor that key broadband deployment programs in the current Farm Bill are the Broadband Loan and Grant Program, the Community Connect Program and the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program.
According to WTA, those programs are slated to get the same level of funding specified in the current Farm Bill, which, on an annual basis, is:
- $3 million for the Broadband Loan and Grant Program
- $35 million for Community Connect
- $70 million for the Distance Learning & Telemedicine Program
The ReConnect Program, also administered by USDA, is not part of the Farm Bill, but is temporarily funded through January 19 at the current level of approximately $379 million on an annual basis, Keber said. That program makes grants, loans and grant/loan combinations to cover some of the costs of rural broadband deployments.
Farm Bill Wish List
Both NTCA and WTA would like to see the ReConnect program moved into the Farm Bill when the bill is updated. Because Farm Bills are normally updated every five years, this would eliminate the need to reauthorize ReConnect funding every year.
“We want to get ReConnect properly authorized so it’s a longer-term program, rather than relying on appropriations each year,” said Keber. He added that WTA wants to make sure that ReConnect rules require funding recipients to deploy service at speeds of at least 100 Mbps symmetrically in keeping with the rules that have been in place for the last two years.
NTCA has noted that it would not like to see ReConnect give preference to certain types of providers.
According to Oveson, stakeholders have until September 2024 to negotiate an updated Farm Bill.
Blandin on Broadband 