Community Connect Grant Program Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Smith, Tina [D-MN]
Introduced
Summary
This bill would reauthorize the Community Connect Grant Program and raise minimum service benchmarks for funded projects. It would also narrow eligibility to rural areas, allow future enforceable deployment commitments to count toward eligibility, and extend the program's authorization to 2031.
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- Rural households: Projects funded under the program would target significantly higher speeds, with an applicable service capacity test set at a downstream of 100 Mbps and an upstream of 20 Mbps. This aims to deliver faster connections to underserved rural communities.
- Grant applicants and networks: The bill updates eligibility rules so areas must be defined as rural and raises the local speed thresholds to 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream for certain criteria. It also allows counting enforceable future broadband commitments made under other federal funding programs when showing an area will receive service.
- Program timeline: The statute's sunset is pushed to 2031, extending the program's authorization and its funding window by eight years.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Expanded rural broadband grant access
This bill would change who can get Community Connect grants for broadband. One eligibility test would treat areas with downstream speeds under 100 Mbps and upstream under 20 Mbps as eligible. Another test would apply only to rural areas and use thresholds of under 25 Mbps down and under 3 Mbps up. The USDA could count future broadband promised under enforceable deployment commitments from other federal programs when deciding eligibility. The program's authorization would be extended through 2031. If enacted, rural households and small businesses would be more likely to qualify for grant-funded broadband.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Smith, Tina [D-MN]
MN • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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