PLAN for Broadband Act

Sponsored by Sen. Roger F. Wicker (R-MS) · 2 active : 2 Democrats

Latest action: By Senator Cruz from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 119-123. Minority views filed.

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Where it standsBefore the Senate

Hasn’t passed either chamber

Senate: next
House: not yet
President: not yet

12 senators score as swing votes

Summary

, via Congress.gov

Summary on Congress.gov

Proper Leadership to Align Networks for Broadband Act or the PLAN for Broadband Act

This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop and implement a national strategy to improve the coordination and management of federal broadband programs and agency consideration of applications to build or maintain broadband infrastructure on federal property.

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The NTIA must also develop and publish for public comment a plan for the implementation of the national strategy. Among other requirements, the implementation plan must establish, for federal broadband programs that are not technologically neutral (i.e., programs that involve a preference for certain broadband technologies), a ceiling on the amount of funding that may be awarded to support the provision of broadband service to a single location.

The bill also requires executive branch agencies to identify and address factors that contribute to delays in their review of applications for easements, rights-of-way, or leases related to communications infrastructure projects on federal property. (Under current law, agencies are generally required to act on such applications within 270 days.) Agencies must also establish methods to alert employees when the agency is at risk of failing to meet the 270-day deadline with respect to a particular application.

Finally, the bill lowers the cost threshold for certain broadband infrastructure projects to qualify as

covered projects

under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act from $200 million to $5 million. Such projects qualify for expedited federal environmental review.

Committees and subjects

Committees

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · SenateReported by · Markup by · Referred to

Subjects

Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
Congressional oversight
Geography and mapping
Government studies and investigations
Internet, web applications, social media
Technology assessment

Senate · 100 House · 433

Model

v3defaultv2

Directional: count only breaks toward the other party Why do scores change?

How the House breaks down

72Swing 70–100
218Middle 30–70
137Entrenched 0–30
6Insufficient data not ranked

Members fall into . 6 representatives don’t have enough data yet and are marked “insufficient data”. Non-voting delegates are not counted. The bill is not before the House right now; these scores show where members would stand.

Key players in the House

Ranked by swing score, 0–100 · swing-v3, directional

: only movement toward the other party counts, so members who sit further from the center than their party no longer score as swing votes.

Bars show each input from 0 to 100: ideology gap, scorecard gap, , and the . is the seat’s partisan lean, and shows how much of the input data a score has.

Similar past votes, House

Earlier behind swing-v3’s input

Similar votes count toward swing-v3 in the House: total similarity weight 6.5 (needs 5.0).

H.R. 1717 · Jul 15, 2025 · Roll call 195On Motion to Suspend the Rules and PassCommunications Security Act
PassedShared subjects×1.0
H.R. 4143 · May 8, 2024 · Roll call 913On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedNational Construction Safety Team Enhancement Act
PassedShared subjects×1.0
H.R. 139 · Jul 14, 2026 · Roll call 598On PassageSunshine Protection Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 1534 · Mar 25, 2025 · Roll call 73On Motion to Suspend the Rules and PassIMPACT Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 8958 · Sep 23, 2024 · Roll call 1159On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedNASA Reauthorization Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 4510 · May 15, 2024 · Roll call 923On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedNTIA Reauthorization Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 4755 · Apr 29, 2024 · Roll call 872On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedPrivacy Enhancing Technology Research Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 4866 · Apr 29, 2024 · Roll call 871On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedFire Weather Development Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5

Show 3 more

H.R. 7521 · Mar 13, 2024 · Roll call 804On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedProtecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 1338 · Jul 25, 2023 · Roll call 364On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedSatellite And Telecommunications Streamlining Act
FailedSame policy area×0.5
H.R. 1715 · May 9, 2023 · Roll call 203On Motion to Suspend the Rules and PassAdvanced Weather Model Computing Development Act
PassedSame policy area×0.5

Cosponsors

2 active

Show all 2 cosponsors

Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)
Peter Welch (D-VT)

How the swing score works

Ideology gapHow far a member’s DW-NOMINATE voting score sits from their party’s median in the same chamber.

Scorecard gapHow far their Heritage Action and LCV ratings stray from their party’s average, using the groups’ votes on similar bills where available.

Cross-pressureHow strongly their district or state leans toward the other party, from our own computed partisan lean.

Similar votesHow often they voted against their own party on earlier roll calls about this bill or similar ones.

Committee bonusMembers of the committees handling the bill decide whether it moves, so they get a boost.

Cosponsor checkThe sponsor and active cosponsors have already committed, so they drop toward entrenched.

1
Jared F. GoldenDemocrat · Maine 2nd · Lean R+4On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 22% of 11 similar votes
95Swing
ContactCall 202-225-6306 Website
2
Marie Gluesenkamp PerezDemocrat · Washington 3rd · Lean R+2On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 22% of 11 similar votes
93Swing
ContactCall 202-225-3536 Website
3
Brian K. FitzpatrickRepublican · Pennsylvania 1st · Lean D+1On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 24% of 11 similar votes
93Swing
ContactCall 202-225-4276 Website
4
Michael LawlerRepublican · New York 17th · Lean D+1On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 14% of 11 similar votes
92Swing
ContactCall 202-225-6506 Website
5
Henry CuellarDemocrat · Texas 28th · Lean R+2On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 21% of 11 similar votes
91Swing
ContactCall 202-225-1640 Website
6
Don BaconRepublican · Nebraska 2nd · Lean D+3On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 12% of 11 similar votes
91Swing
ContactCall 202-225-4155 Website
7
Thomas H. KeanRepublican · New Jersey 7th · Lean EVENOn the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 14% of 11 similar votes
90Swing
ContactCall 202-225-5361 Website
8
Adam GrayDemocrat · California 13th · Lean R+1On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 28% of 3 similar votes
88Swing
ContactCall 202-225-1947 Website
9
Donald G. DavisDemocrat · North Carolina 1st · Lean R+1On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 20% of 11 similar votes
88Swing
ContactCall 202-225-3101 Website
10
Laura GillenDemocrat · New York 4th · Lean D+2On the ballot
Ideology gap
Scorecard gap
Cross-pressure
Similar votes
CommitteeNo committee seatBroke with party on 19% of 3 similar votes
88Swing
ContactCall 202-225-5516 Website