Legislative Proposal Shows Trump Sees Broadband as 'Infrastructure Priority,' White House Says

President Donald Trump’s administration touted its infrastructure legislative proposal Monday as a means for improving rural broadband connectivity, saying he “understands how important expanding broadband access is to ensuring a better quality of life and increasing economic opportunity for rural Americans.” Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue promoted the plan in a Monday opinion piece in the Des Moines Register. Trump’s legislative package, released last week, proposes $50 billion in federal funding for rural infrastructure projects allocated via state block grants (see 1802120001). Congressional Democrats criticized the proposal for not including dedicated broadband funding (see 1802140052 and 1802140064). Trump “has made clear that broadband should be an infrastructure priority,” the White House said. Trump didn’t mention broadband when he highlighted his then-pending infrastructure proposal during his January State of the Union speech, disappointing some industry officials (see 1801310071). The proposal “will provide States with the flexibility to invest in the needs of their rural communities, including broadband,” the White House said. “Given the level of discretion granted to states under the President’s Rural Infrastructure Program, governors can spend 100 percent of the Federal funds they receive under the Program on broadband.” It highlighted Trump’s January executive actions aimed at streamlining rural broadband deployments (see 1801080060 and 1801080063). “Expanding rural broadband to connect America’s rural areas to the ‘interstate highway system’ of global commerce sits atop the infrastructure priority list,” Perdue wrote. “To remain internationally competitive, American farms need reliable, real-time internet connectivity.”