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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Monday, May 20, 2024
Farms and businesses suffering from insufficient internet connectivity could get some help from a grant and loan program that USDA will launch in the new year with higher service requirements than the department originally proposed.
A bill to expedite permitting for broadband projects on federal land easily cleared the House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, cheering advocates of rural broadband.
The Senate Appropriations subcommittee advanced a fiscal 2019 spending bill for USDA and FDA that would provide $425 million in funding for rural broadband expansion to add to the $600 million that Congress provided for this year.
House GOP leaders hope to pass a farm bill this week over likely unified Democratic opposition, but Republicans head into the debate divided over critical amendments on sugar policy, crop insurance and other issues.
The omnibus funding bill for 2018 that President Donald Trump signed into law last week specifically acknowledges “the importance of the deployment of wireless broadband services in rural areas of the United States.”
As lawmakers prepare to move a new farm bill, one of the smallest titles is taking on an outsized importance as Congress looks to address priority issues for the Trump administration.