Rural Broadband Loan Program Gets $550 Million Boost in Omnibus

Lawmakers are moving to set aside more money to help connect rural communities to the internet as part of a spending bill (H.R. 2471) for the year starting Oct. 1.

More than $550 million would be dedicated to rural broadband, including $450 million for ReConnect, a program that offers loans and grants to cover building, improving, or obtaining facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband in eligible rural parts of the country.

The money for the program, tucked into the omnibus spending legislation for fiscal 2022, is in addition to $2 billion included in the Infrastructure Investment and ...