Biden's budget includes $400M for rural broadband – and a shoutout for ACP

President Joe Biden released his 2024 budget plan on Thursday, which includes $400 million for the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) ReConnect program to provide grants and loans to build broadband in unserved areas of the country.

The ReConnect program, established in 2018, also gained $2 billion in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

"With the funding provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, USDA has provided nearly $548 million to people living and working across 21 States and Territories, which is expected to expand access to 43,189 households," reads the White House budget proposal.

The ReConnect program was the only call for additional broadband funding in the 182-page budget, but the White House also used the document to draw attention to its progress on broadband during the administration's first two years. Specifically, the White House referenced the FCC's rollout of rules for broadband nutrition labels for consumers, and the progress of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

"The Federal Communications Commission released new rules that will go into effect next year to require broadband providers to use 'nutrition labels'—similar to those used for food products—to convey key information to consumers about internet service options in an accessible format," reads the proposal.

Biden also mentioned high-speed Internet when presenting his budget to a crowd in Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon.

Figure 1: (Source: White House via Twitter)

"We're delivering high-speed Internet to every home in America so no parent has to drive up to the McDonald's parking lot" for kids to do their homework, said Biden.

Honorable mention: The ACP

While some in the industry hoped to see the White House call for funding the ACP in its budget proposal, the program – which provides a $30 monthly broadband subsidy for qualified low-income homes – was only mentioned in the context of the administration's progress.

Referring to programs funded through the IIJA, the White House said those investments have allowed it to "increase enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity program that helps ensure households can afford the high speed internet they need for work, school, healthcare, and more to over 16 million households."

The ACP's absence from the budget proposal is notable because the program is projected to run out of funding by next year. That could lead to millions of Americans losing access to high-speed Internet.

But according to Joel Thayer, president of the Digital Progress Institute (DPI) which advocates for telecom policies, the White House calling out the program shows that it's "clearly a priority," even if the budget proposal lacked specific funding for ACP.

Further, he said, keeping it out of the budget may be better as it prevents it from getting cut or caught up in what is likely to be a months-long political battle between Democrats and Republicans. Instead, it kicks the issue back to Congress to address through separate legislation. He encouraged both the industry and FCC to push Congress for funding.

'Biggest issue' for 2023

To be sure, securing the ACP is a priority for many in the industry, with people like New Street Research analyst and former FCC official Blair Levin warning that defunding the program will worsen the digital divide.

The subject was also front of mind at last week's ACA Connects Summit in Washington, D.C., where Grant Spellmeyer, CEO of ACA Connects, called fixing ACP's funding gap the "biggest issue" for 2023.

But while many casual viewers of Congress are wringing their hands over whether there's hope for another ACP funding bill, DPI's Thayer said he's optimistic given the "political reality" of cutting a program that currently subsidizes broadband for millions of Americans.

"You're going to have to go back to your district and tell them that, on principle, you have to pull away this benefit that they rely on for connectivity to make some sort of political point," he said.

Overall, Biden's budget proposal contains $6.8 trillion in spending and ​​aims to reduce the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over a decade. Republicans, who swiftly rejected the White House budget, are expected to release their own plan but have not done so as of this writing.

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— Nicole Ferraro, editor, Light Reading, and host of "​​The Divide" on the Light Reading Podcast.