Ernst Effort to Close the Digital Divide in Rural Communities Passes Senate

WASHINGTON - The Senate passed bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to expand access to broadband in rural areas and ease the burden of regulatory costs for smaller broadband providers that rural communities rely on.

"Iowans need quality broadband to access high-speed internet in today's world," said Senator Ernst. "I'm grateful my bipartisan effort to cut regulations, reduce unnecessary requirements, and unleash local telecom companies passed the Senate. I will always stand up and fight for small businesses and rural communities!"

"Access to high-speed internet is no longer a luxury-it's a necessity for Wisconsinites to work, attend school online, run their businesses, manage their farms, and connect with people across the world," said Senator Baldwin. "For too long, small local providers, often in our rural areas, got caught up in burdensome regulations and it stopped them from reaching more people. Our bipartisan bill cuts red tape for our small broadband providers and helps them expand reliable, affordable internet to more families and small businesses across Wisconsin."

"NTCA congratulates and thanks Senators Tammy Baldwin and Joni Ernst for getting the ACCESS Rural America Act approved by the full Senate. Federal Securities and Exchange Commission registration and reporting requirements intended for larger, publicly-traded firms pose significant challenges for, and can impose substantial burdens on, smaller, locally-owned companies with limited resources. NTCA therefore greatly appreciates the leadership of Senators Baldwin, Ernst, and others in introducing and passing the ACCESS Rural America Act, which will help relieve these burdens and enable small providers to focus more on their core mission of deploying and operating advanced broadband networks in rural areas," said Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association.

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) cosponsored the bill.

Background:

Ernst has been fighting to pass the Access to Capital Creates Economic Strength and Supports (ACCESS) Rural America Act since 2018.

The bill will provide regulatory relief to rural telecommunications service providers by allowing them to submit streamlined financial reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These small companies-many of which are the sole service providers in their region-could be put out of business by looming regulatory costs. This bipartisan legislation will save small companies from costly SEC reporting requirements that were never intended for them.

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