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Law360 (May 29, 2020, 6:30 PM EDT) -- House and Senate Democrats have high hopes for passing a bevy of broadband expansion bills, whether or not they're officially rolled into the next coronavirus rescue package, two Hill staffers told Law360 during a virtual panel event on Friday.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives see their Heroes Act package, which is now stalled in the U.S. Senate, as a serious effort at moving forward important digital aid programs, said Asad Ramzanali, legislative director for Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. — even if Senate Republicans view the package as the beginning of a longer conversation.
"This is a serious piece of legislation," Ramzanali said. "We spent a lot of time on each of these provisions. ... We're not seeing it as a rough draft."
The comments came during a webinar moderated by Law360 and hosted by the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition, a consortium that represents educational institutions and other community anchors.
Meanwhile, Joseph Wender, senior policy adviser to Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said minority leaders in the upper chamber are aware of dynamics potentially slowing down progress on an overall rescue package as well as the broadband bills rolled into it.
"[Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell is stuck between fiscal conservatives on one side and on the obvious political imperative of trying to boost up the economy," Wender said. "The running assumption is that there will be another stimulus bill — but just one more — before the election."
But a delay based on political expediency doesn't necessarily spell doom for the included broadband language, such as provisions that would fund take-home Wi-Fi hotspots for students and expand low-income broadband benefits for people who have recently become jobless. For example, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., introduced broadband infrastructure language already included in the Heroes Act as a stand-alone bill on Thursday.
For the time being, Wender said Democrats are focused on maximizing existing programs — especially through the Federal Communications Commission's four Universal Service Fund programs — to meet needs exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
"There's a real immediacy to this problem right now. The fear is, if we start creating new programs, it takes so long to get those up and running," he said.
When asked why Republicans have yet to sign onto emergency educational broadband bills that are ostensibly bipartisan, Wender observed that many GOP members are likely hesitant to jump ahead of party leadership even if they quietly support such measures.
"They are proceeding politically a little more cautiously right now. They're watching this thing unfold," Wender said. "In the end, I am pretty confident that whatever comes out of the Senate will enjoy bipartisan support, and that there certainly will be great support of Republicans for broadband funding generally."
--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
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