Bennet Secures Historic Broadband Funding in Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Soon to Become Law

Press Release

Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet released the following statement highlighting the historic $65 billion of broadband funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which draws directly on the bipartisan BRIDGE Act he authored and released in June with U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

"We are on the cusp of making the largest ever investment in affordable, high-speed broadband in U.S. history, and Colorado led the way," said Bennet. "The infrastructure package now heading to the President's desk draws directly on the bipartisan bill I wrote to reflect Colorado's challenges with broadband networks that are often too slow, unreliable, or expensive to meet the needs of Coloradans today. This new funding says that we don't have to accept a country where any American is shut out of the broadband access they need to compete and thrive in the 21st century."

The IIJA provides $65 billion in new funding to promote broadband access, the largest portion of which is over $40 billion in block grants for states to deploy affordable, high-speed networks and support a range of initiatives to bridge the digital divide. This provision draws directly from the bipartisan BRIDGE Act Senator Bennet introduced in June with Senators King and Portman. Like the BRIDGE Act, IIJA requires new broadband networks to meet higher minimum standards, such as providing a download speed of at least 100 megabits per second, while prioritizing even faster, gigabit-speed networks. This turns the page on decades of federal policy that has subsidized the deployment of slow, outdated networks in many rural and mountain communities, relegating them to sub-standard service that stifles opportunity. Also mirroring the BRIDGE Act, IIJA requires new networks to provide at least one affordable option for low-income families. IIJA also provides over $2 billion in funding for Tribal governments, mirroring another key provision of Senator Bennet's bill.

Senator Bennet has been a strong advocate for expanding affordable, high-speed broadband in Colorado and across the country. In March, Senator Bennet led a bipartisan letter with his Senate colleagues urging the Biden administration to update the speeds and standards for high-speed broadband across federal agencies. Last month, USDA's ReConnect program announced that it would dramatically increase its minimum speeds and standards in line with the senator's recommendation. During the pandemic, Bennet also consistently called for more funding and flexibility for the FCC's E-Rate program to connect low-income students online and helped secure more than $7 billion to close the digital divide for students nationwide in the American Rescue Plan.

"The passage of the Bipartisan infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act will greatly benefit all Colorado communities. As we learned during the pandemic, access to broadband is essential for all Coloradans--for education, health care, economic development, and more. That's why I particularly appreciate that Sen. Bennet's BRIDGE Act was included in the infrastructure bill, and will provide a major boost in broadband funding that will produce far greater broadband speeds for Colorado towns throughout the plains and mountains. I look forward to working hard to implement this bill and bringing its benefits to all of Colorado," said Colorado Attorney General Weiser.

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