Eliminating Reconnect?

The most recent White House Budget proposes eliminating the ReConnect grant program, which is administered by the Rural Utilities Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ReConnect has been a popular funding program in rural areas and was one of the few sources of federal broadband grants when it began. It is an interesting program because awards include both grants and low-interest rate loans. Congress purposefully put the ReConnect program at the RUS. The agency has been making loans for rural communications infrastructure since 1949. There is no guarantee that asking for the elimination of ReConnect in a budget means this is a done deal. But there is some sense in consolidating the federal effort focused on rural broadband. If this comes to pass, I’ll be a little sad that the folks who have been doing this since 1949 might not be the ones to help finish the job.