The Farm Bill

Congress Daily is reporting this morning that 10 rural advocacy groups are pushing Congress to pass the long-delayed Farm Bill and keep the rural broadband provisions that are in both the House and Senate versions.  With these provisions, the federal government could take a greater role in assessing broadband coverage in rural areas and provide funds to enable greater deployment.   We all know that broadband deployment and adoption are key to economic development and increased access to health care and social services for rural communities.  This is a positive step in the right direction toward a National Broadband policy and increasing connectivity across the country.

The bill has been tied up in negotiations over subsidies and offsets for the ag sector for months.  We hope that negotiators come together before the April 18 deadline to hammer out an agreement that includes rural broadband development.  We'll continue to monitor this over the coming weeks.