Ernst, Capito Question Trump Infrastructure Proposal's Broadband Funding Approach
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, pressed Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao to explain why President Donald Trump's infrastructure legislative proposal doesn't include “direct funding” for broadband projects via “existing programs” like the USF High Cost program and the Rural Utilities Service, during a Thursday Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing. Trump’s legislative package, released last month, proposes $50 billion in federal funding for rural infrastructure projects allocated via state block grants (see 1802120001). Democrats criticized the proposal for not including dedicated broadband funding (see 1802140052 and 1802140064).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
“Not all states are going to have the level of expertise or programs in place to efficiently build out their broadband,” Ernst said. “I do understand the significance of doing block grants to the states, but why are we not utilizing existing programs?” It's “going to be up to” governors “how they want to spend” their rural infrastructure block grants, Chao said. “Broadband is obviously one area that we would encourage for them to pay some attention to.”
Broadband “is very, very important to our rural areas,” Ernst responded. “We're glad” the rural projects funding was included in Trump's proposal, but lawmakers also “want to make sure that there is expertise involved with building out some of those broadband networks.” Ernst said she's encouraging Chao and her staff to “make sure that those dollars are used efficiently as possible for our rural areas.” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said she agrees with Ernst “on the broadband [funding] issue” related to Trump's proposal.
A “key element” of Trump's proposal “is to empower decision-making at the state and local level, by people who know best the infrastructure needs of their communities,” Chao told the senators. The $200 billion in federal funding included in the package is meant to be “seed money” aimed at spurring private sector investment. Chao also touted the proposal's focus on streamlining the federal environmental permitting process, including for small-cells deployments.
Ranking member Tom Carper, Del., led Democrats in criticizing what they view as insufficient federal funding in Trump's proposal. “The administration’s math just doesn’t add up,” Carper said, citing a February Penn Wharton study that estimated Trump's plan would raise the private sector's new investment spending by only $20 billion. “Obviously, we disagree,” Chao said. “It actually takes people with real-life business experience to know how it works.”