House Appropriations FY26 NTIA Funding Bill Report Directs Changes to Broadband Programs
The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday night postponed a planned Thursday markup session on the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s FY 2026 funding bill, which would allocate $47 million to NTIA, including $1 million for facilities management and construction (see 2507140052). The panel still released its proposed report on its FY26 bill with language aimed at changing NTIA administration of the $42.5 billion BEAD program and other broadband initiatives.
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!
House Appropriations said it’s postponing its FY26 CJS bill markup until an undetermined date after the lower chamber returns Sept. 2 from its six-week August recess. The rescheduling happened after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., canceled planned Thursday votes amid GOP infighting about bids to force floor votes on legislation to authorize release of federal investigators’ files related to accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The FY26 bill's NTIA funding proposal mirrors President Donald Trump's request in June (see 2506020056) and is 20% less than NTIA received for FY 2024 and FY 2025 (see 2403040083). The Senate Appropriations Committee last week advanced its FY26 funding bill, which allocates NTIA $57 million for FY26 (see 2507210064).
House Appropriations’ report on its FY26 bill would mandate that NTIA “not approve any Eligible Entity’s initial proposal or final proposal [for spending funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program] if the Eligible Entity proposes to require, encourage, or incentivize subgrantees to offer specific rates for broadband service, including a specific rate for a low-cost broadband service option, a middle-class affordability strategy, or a specific rate in order to earn points for the scoring of deployment subgrantee selection.”
The report directs NTIA to report to Congress “on any statutory limitations hindering coordination of Federal broadband programs and offer legislative proposals to address these limitations” mirroring the Government Accountability Office’s 2022 recommendations. “NTIA should also analyze how many Americans still lack fixed broadband access and estimate additional funding required to ensure all Americans have access to broadband, considering current funding,” the report said. Lawmakers also want to require “NTIA’s broadband programs shall not directly or indirectly regulate the rates that broadband service providers charge to consumers generally or to any subset of consumers.”
House Appropriations would require NTIA in evaluating broadband funding applications to “consider the effect of supply chain, workforce shortages, and other known barriers such as permit approvals to determine whether providers can reasonably meet deployment deadlines. In the case NTIA determines these factors unduly impact project commitments or will deter program participation, the Administration shall use its discretionary authority to provide waivers of such requirements and/or other relief."
The report would also direct NTIA “to continue evaluating ways to expand spectrum availability for non-Federal wireless use while maintaining a balanced approach to licensed, unlicensed, and shared spectrum access. NTIA is directed to provide annual updates on its evaluation process, including a review of spectrum-sharing opportunities and commercial access considerations.”