The House Appropriations Committee voted 35-28 Wednesday night to advance the Financial Services Subcommittee’s FY 2026 funding bill, which would maintain the FCC’s annual allocation at $390.2 million and proposes reducing the FTC’s funding to $388.6 million (see 2507210064). The panel earlier voted 32-27 against an amendment from Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., to strike language in the bill’s report that directs the FCC to study alternatives to the commission’s lapsed affordable connectivity program (ACP) “to ensure that low-income Americans stay connected.”
The House Appropriations Committee was debating at our deadline Wednesday afternoon the Financial Services Subcommittee’s FY 2026 funding bill, which proposes to maintain the FCC’s annual allocation at $390.2 million (see 2507210064). Meanwhile, House Appropriations’ Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee voted 11-7 Tuesday to advance its FY26 funding bill, as expected, without language to restore the $1.1 billion for CPB that Congress clawed back in July via the 2025 Rescissions Act (see 2508290060).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday circulated two items targeting programs created under the Biden administration to fund Wi-Fi hot spots and Wi-Fi on school buses. Commissioner Anna Gomez immediately indicated she opposed cutting the programs, which have long been lightning rods for Republican objections.
West Kentucky and Tennessee (WK&T) Telecommunications Cooperative CEO Karen Jackson-Furman and other witnesses plan to highlight for the House Small Business Committee their hopes for a restarted congressional working group’s bid for a USF legislative revamp (see 2507030051), according to written testimony released ahead of Wednesday's hearing on broadband deployment’s effect on rural entrepreneurs. Some urge lawmakers to continue addressing internet affordability as part of the USF revamp. Several of the witnesses also back Republicans’ bid to further ease permitting reviews of connectivity projects, including via the controversial American Broadband Deployment Act (see 2305240069). The House Small Business hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2360 Rayburn.
Shifting federal priorities away from fiber toward newer technologies like low earth orbit (LEO) satellites is creating uncertainty for states' broadband plans and funding, experts and local officials warned Thursday at the National Association of Telecom Officers and Advisors' (NATOA) annual conference (see 2508200037). Panelists said the move has rattled the industry, left local governments scrambling for resources, and raised questions about how states will balance cost, access and long-term reliability without the possibility of new federal support.
California’s plan to launch a home broadband pilot under its LifeLine program received mixed reactions from industry and consumer advocates. Groups were split over legal authority, service standards and who should be required to participate in the program, which was proposed by California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Commissioner Alice Reynolds and is expected to be considered during the agency's August 28 meeting.
The FCC added numerous questions to its draft notice of inquiry on how the agency examines competition in its Telecom Act Section 706 reports to Congress. The NOI was approved 3-0 ahead of Thursday’s FCC meeting. Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez said in a statement Wednesday that questions were added on broadband affordability at her urging, and she was, as a result, able to vote in favor of it (see 2508060061). The FCC posted the final version Friday.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said Wednesday that, despite concerns, she voted for a notice of inquiry to study revisions in how the FCC examines competition in its Telecom Act Section 706 reports to Congress. Commissioners approved the NOI earlier in the week, and it was taken off the agenda for Thursday’s meeting (see 2508050056). While Gomez’s comments on the NOI were predominantly negative, she said she voted yes to give the public a chance to weigh in.
The recently relaunched bipartisan congressional working group studying a USF legislative revamp is seeking a new round of stakeholder comments about how to proceed and has opened a portal for submissions, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said Friday. Meanwhile, the Digital Progress Institute said in a white paper Thursday that USF's current contribution mechanism is “unsustainable” and “horrendously inefficient.”
Leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees who are spearheading the bipartisan congressional working group on a USF legislative revamp, which relaunched in June (see 2506120091), told us they plan to begin meeting again this month. But they said they feel less pressure to quickly reach an agreement on legislative recommendations since the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Consumers’ Research v. FCC, which found that USF’s funding mechanism is constitutional (see 2506270054). Sens. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and John Thune, R-S.D., formed the working group in 2023 as Communications Subcommittee chairman and ranking member, respectively (see 2305110066).