# 119-hr-8147: Prioritizing Rural Broadband Affordability Act

119-hr-8147, Prioritizing Rural Broadband Affordability Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. McClain Delaney, April [D-MD-6] (D-MD); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-22).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8147
- As of: 2026-08-22
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8147
- Congress: 119
- Title: Prioritizing Rural Broadband Affordability Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-03-27
- Sponsor: Rep. McClain Delaney, April [D-MD-6] (D-MD)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-22

## Summary

**Broadband affordability** would become a formal factor when deciding which rural households and service areas count as "unserved" under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. If enacted, the bill would require the USDA Secretary to consider whether service is affordable in both household and service-territory unserved determinations, with those changes taking effect one year after enactment. - Rural families: Households that face high monthly internet bills would be more likely to be classified as unserved, which can make them targets for programs and projects aimed at unserved areas. - Internet providers: Providers could see shifts in which areas are labeled unserved, potentially changing where federal support and infrastructure efforts are focused. - Federal administration: The bill would add "affordability" as a defined criterion in 7 U.S.C. 950bb, changing how USDA officials assess service territories under existing rural broadband authorities.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Bresnahan, Robert P. [R-PA-8] (R-PA), 2026-03-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY), 2026-04-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2026-04-09T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Make broadband affordability count for rural areas: benefit, medium. If enacted, this bill would require the Secretary to consider whether broadband service is affordable when deciding if a household or area is "unserved". This would apply both to individual households and to proposed service territories under the Rural Electrification Act. The change would take eff…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2086: Rights for the TSA Workforce Act
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-6182: Find It Early Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-8147 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8147)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1229)
- [119-hr-2086: Rights for the TSA Workforce Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2086)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-6182: Find It Early Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6182)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8147 (as of 2026-08-22).