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Don\u2019t hold your breath for a resurgence of government internet subsidies. Republicans and Democrats can\u2019t seem to agree on a way forward to fund the program, and passing such bills will only get more difficult as Election Day inches closer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Democrats and Republicans have introduced dueling bills to reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s spectrum auctions, where the agency doles out access to frequencies that can be used to carry wireless signals. But the Democratic bill that has been repeatedly delayed in committee specifically seeks to fund a now-defunct internet subsidy program, while the Republican version does not. While some Republicans supported earlier efforts to extend the subsidy program<\/a>, those efforts did not go through in time to keep it from ending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cantwell blamed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, for standing in the way of the legislation. \u201cWe had a chance to secure affordable broadband for millions of Americans, but Senator Cruz said \u2018no,\u2019\u201d Cantwell said in a statement late Monday.\u00a0\u201cHe said \u2018no\u2019 to securing a lifeline for millions of Americans who rely on the Affordable Connectivity Program to speak to their doctors, do their homework, connect to their jobs, and stay in touch with loved ones \u2014 including more than one million Texas families.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Cantwell said her Republican colleagues on the committee offered amendments to limit the ACP funding in the bill. She said the ACP shouldn\u2019t be a partisan issue and stressed the wide range of Americans who\u2019ve relied on the program for high-speed connections, including elderly people living on fixed incomes and many military families. \u201cI hope my colleagues will stop with obstructing and get back to negotiating on important legislation that will deliver these national security priorities and help Americans continue to have access to something as essential as affordable broadband,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cruz has his own spectrum legislation<\/a> with Sen. John Thune (R-SD) that would reauthorize the FCC\u2019s spectrum auction authority, with a focus on expanding commercial access to mid-band spectrum, commonly used for 5G. <\/strong>But it doesn\u2019t have the same ACP funding mechanism. <\/strong>Some large telecom industry players prefer Cruz\u2019s bill, in part because it allows for exclusive licensing<\/a>. Wireless communications trade group CTIA\u2019s SVP of government affairs, Kelly Cole, told Fierce Network<\/em><\/a> that the Cruz bill \u201cis a better approach because it follows the historical precedent set by prior bipartisan legislation to extend the FCC\u2019s auction authority.\u201d But other tech groups like the Internet Technology Industry Council (ITI), which represents companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta, support Cantwell\u2019s bill, in part because of the programs it seeks to fund.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A spokesperson for Cruz did not immediately respond to The Verge\u2019s<\/em> request for comment, but in a statement published by Roll Call<\/em><\/a>, he responded to criticism from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who accused Cruz of supporting corporate interests over working Americans\u2019. \u201cIn his shameless blame-game, Leader Schumer accidentally revealed what he and his party really think about taxpayers\u00a0\u2014 that they are dupes\u00a0who should be forced to give free internet to illegal aliens, millions to antisemitic universities, and billions to mega-corporations with no strings attached,\u201d Cruz said in the statement to Roll Call<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n