House Appropriations Draft
The House Appropriations Committee released a Stimulus Draft Bill (PDFs: text of bill, House Report) which has a broadband component. This should be no surprise as the incoming Obama administration has promised that broadband would be a key to the overall approach to healing the economy.
Ars Technica reports:
The “American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009″ is designed to create and save between three and four million jobs, [House Appropriations Committee Chair David] Obey says, “and begin the process of transforming [the United States] for the 21st century.” It is also packed with tech- and science-related investment programs. The broadband plan will target high speed Internet access “so businesses in rural and other underserved areas can link up to the global economy.” And the proposal includes $10 billion for science and research.
Ars continues:
…the advocacy group Free Press has already filed comments on the broadband aspect of the plan. The group says it’s happy about the bill, although it doesn’t think $6 billion is enough. Beyond that concern, it wants Congress to require any new network funded by this program to adhere to open access and nondiscrimination principles, or possibly open them to providers at wholesale access rates. In addition, some government agency must oversee the program to “enforce concrete administrative accountability.”
Ditto say Public Knowledge and the Open Internet Coalition, which rushed their press releases to Ars shortly after Obey released his summary of the bill. Everybody’s praising this proposal, up to a point.
F2C09 speaker Geoff Daily takes this concern further, asking if grants are “really the best way to distribute that money quickly, ensure accountability, deliver rural areas the connectivity they need to compete globally, and maximize the impact of government dollars?” Daily contrasts the Draft with a proposed Rural Fiber Fund (RFF), which:
- Will work more quickly
- Will require less administration
- Will be less likely to turn into a boondoggle
- Will bring world-class broadband infrastructure to rural America
- Will deliver the most bang for the government buck
Geoff’s article has more general information on how this works. Watch AppRising for a stimulus-ready, detailed plan for the RFF shortly.
