House Approves Broadband, AI Amendments to NTIA-USDA Funding 'Minibus'

John Rutherford, R-Fla., that would have decreased NTIA's FY 2020 salaries and expenses funding to FY 2019 levels as a way to increase funding for NOAA by $3.5 million. The chamber voted 408-22 for an amendment led by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., that would increase funding for the Rural Utilities Service's $600 million ReConnect rural broadband funding program (see 1812130064) by $55 million, which would be paid for by decreasing funding for USDA administration, the department's chief information officer and the department's general counsel. Lawmakers voted 425-6 for a proposal led by Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., to increase funding for RUS' distance learning and telemedicine grant program by $25 million by cutting an equal amount from the CIO's office. The House cleared the other five amendments on voice votes, including two that target broadband mapping. One led by Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-N.Y., would bar NTIA from using its funding to update broadband coverage maps using data collected only via Form 477. The other, from Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., designates $1 million of NTIA’s funding be used for broadband mapping. Language led by Rep. David Trone, D-Md., would increase funding for community connect grants by $5 million for broadband deployments in underserved rural areas. An amendment from Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., would allocate $1 million of the distance learning program funding to “express the importance of broadband access to rural communities, schools and small businesses.” The other cleared proposal, from Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., would direct $1 million of National Science Foundation funding to report to Congress on “its efforts to incorporate social impact assessments into the artificial intelligence research it funds.”