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H.R. 2399119th CongressScience, Technology, Communications
Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2025
Sponsored by Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) · 1 active : 1 Democrat
Latest action: Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 61.
Where it standsPassed House, now in the Senate9 senators score as swing votes
Passed House
- House: passedApr 28, 2025
- Senate: next
- President: not yet
Summary
, via Congress.govRural Broadband Protection Act of 2025
This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a process to vet applicants for certain funding programs that support affordable broadband deployment in high-cost areas, including rural communities.
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Specifically, the FCC must conduct a rulemaking to develop a vetting process for applicants seeking funding under high-cost universal service programs for the deployment of a broadband-capable network and the provision of supported services over the network. The FCC must require applications for such funding to document each applicant’s technical, financial, and operational capabilities related to the proposed deployment, as well as a reasonable business plan.
The FCC must evaluate applications against reasonable and well-established standards and must consider each applicant’s history of compliance with the requirements of other government broadband funding programs. After the rulemaking is finalized, funds may only be awarded to applicants that satisfy the standards established therein.
Finally, the FCC must set financial penalties for applicants that default in some manner during the evaluation process before they are authorized to begin receiving support.
Committees and subjects
Committees
- House Committee on Energy and Commerce · HouseReported by · Markup by · Referred to
Subjects
- Internet, web applications, social media
- Rural conditions and development
- Telephone and wireless communication
How the Senate breaks down
- 9Swing 70–100
- 62Middle 30–70
- 29Entrenched 0–30
Members fall into . All 100 senators have enough data to score.
Key players in the Senate
Ranked by swing score, 0–100 · swing-v2, 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, . is the seat’s partisan lean, and shows how much of the input data a score has.
Similar past votes, Senate
Earlier behind swing-v3’s inputLoading similar votes
Cosponsors
1 activeShow all 1 cosponsors
- Robin L. Kelly (D-IL-2)
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.
