# 119-hr-2399: Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025

119-hr-2399, Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Houchin, Erin [R-IN-9] (R-IN); status passed_house; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-29).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2399
- As of: 2026-07-29
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-2399
- Congress: 119
- Title: Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-03-27
- Sponsor: Rep. Houchin, Erin [R-IN-9] (R-IN)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-29

## Summary

**Creates a new vetting process for High-Cost Universal Service Program funding to ensure only applicants with proven technical, financial, and operational capacity receive awards.** The bill also requires enforceable penalties and keeps awards technology neutral. - Providers and applicants would need to submit detailed proposals and documentation showing technical, financial, and operational capability and a reasonable business plan. They face penalties for pre-authorization defaults of at least $9,000 per violation and a minimum base forfeiture of 30 percent of their total support. - Rural communities and consumers could see funding go to more capable firms, because awards must meet FCC performance standards and applicants’ compliance history will be checked. - The Federal Communications Commission would be required to start a rulemaking within 180 days of enactment and evaluate applicants using well-established technical and financial standards, including those tied to the Digital Opportunity Data Collection.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Kelly, Robin L. [D-IL-2] (D-IL), 2025-03-27T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Tougher checks and fines for broadband funding: cost, high. The FCC would create a new vetting process for applicants to the high-cost broadband program. It would start a rulemaking within 180 days and require detailed proof of technical, financial, and operational capacity, plus a reasonable business plan. Applications would be judged against established s…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-2854: Neighborhood Homes Investment Act
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-2399 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2399)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-137)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-2854: Neighborhood Homes Investment Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2854)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2399 (as of 2026-07-29).