WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), co-chair of the Senate Rural Broadband Caucus, today joined a bipartisan group of senators in urging the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to adjust requirements of the ReConnect program which currently blocks rural communities across 19 states from accessing federal funding intended to support rural broadband deployment.

In the letter, the senators request Secretary Perdue to use his authority to broaden ReConnect eligibility, reading:

“USDA can, and should, fix this. USDA is neither statutorily required to eliminate FCC grant recipients from ReConnect eligibility, nor does it consider satellite service as sufficient broadband service for the purposes of awarding ReConnect funding,” the senators wrote, “[t]o rectify this inequity and further USDA’s stated goal of expanding broadband access for all Americans, we urge you to act to allow service providers to submit applications for ReConnect funds if the area has only received FCC auction funding for satellite service, but would otherwise be eligible.”

ReConnect was established in 2018 and is authorized to give grants and loans of about $600 million per year to foster rural broadband, but existing restrictions block service providers in areas that received Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Connect America Fund Phase II grants from applying for USDA ReConnect grants and 50/50 loan-grant combinations, even if only a satellite provider received funding for that area. The legislation that authorized the ReConnect program does not mandate such an exclusion. As the senators highlighted in today’s letter, USDA considers satellite coverage insufficient for the needs of rural communities. Satellite service has much lower bandwidth caps, reliability and network speeds than fiber and fixed wireless services. This makes satellite service ill-suited for the telemedicine, mental health services and interactive distance learning applications that help rural communities thrive.

As a co-chair of the Senate Broadband Caucus, Senator King has been a strong advocate for improving access to broadband in rural areas and the need to increase funding for stand-alone broadband infrastructure. In December, he lauded the Senate’s passage of the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act, a bipartisan bill that he co-sponsored to improve broadband data maps. Earlier that month, Senator King pushed for funding to prioritize sustainable rural broadband networks as the FCC considers new rules to govern the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program.

Digital connectivity in rural regions is a key priority of Senator King’s economic agenda to help modernize and grow Maine’s rural economy, support innovation and create jobs. In May 2019, Senators King and Capito reintroduced legislation to measure the economic impact of broadband so state and federal policymakers can understand the return they will receive on any investments in digital infrastructure. The legislation had previously passed the Senate in December, but was not taken up by the House. In April 2019, Senator King joined his colleagues to introduce legislation to promote “digital equity” so Americans of all background can have equal access to the opportunities created by the internet. In September 2018, Senator King wrote a letter to the USDA seeking specific provisions in the ReConnect broadband pilot program, including acquiring up-to-date broadband mapping data. USDA incorporated these provisions in its regulations for the program that it issued in December 2018. In August 2017, he hosted a listening tour with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to discuss the importance of rural broadband for rural education, healthcare, and economic growth. Senators King and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) also successfully advanced bipartisan federal legislation in 2015 to support innovative strategies to connect rural students to the internet outside of the classroom, and wrote a letter to then-Education Secretary John King in April 2016 urging that he implement the changes.

In addition to Senator King, today’s letter to Secretary Perdue was signed by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.).

The letter can be read HERE.