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  "description": "Senate appropriators cut $56 million from House’s proposed ReConnect budget.\n",
  "path": "/senate-panel-advances-usda-budget-trims-reconnect-in-fy26-bill/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-07-14T20:53:04.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act_",
    "_ReConnect_",
    "_Community Connect Grant Program_",
    "_****There's a whole community behind your FREE membership...****_",
    "There's a whole community behind your FREE membership...",
    "_version of the bill_",
    "_in June_",
    "_proposed eliminating the USDA’s Reconnect Program entirely_",
    "_proposed $90 million for ReConnect_",
    "_Rural Partners Network_",
    "_press release_",
    "_Senate legislative calendar_"
  ],
  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, July 14, 2025 – The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a $27 billion discretionary spending bill on Thursday, proposing more than $95 million in rural broadband investments for fiscal year 2026.\n\nThe committee voted 27-0 to approve the _Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act_. Sponsored by Sen. **John Hoeven** , R-N.D., the bill sets the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s discretionary budget for the coming year, and also funds the FDA and related rural development programs.\n\nAlong with appropriations for food safety, agriculture research and conservation, the bill being sent to the Senate floor would provide $40 million for telemedicine and distance learning services; $35 million for USDA's _ReConnect_, a broadband grant and loan program for areas with less than 10 percent coverage; and $20 million for the _Community Connect Grant Program_, which funds broadband services for communities where service does not exist.\n\n\n\n_****There's a whole community behind your FREE membership...****_\n\n There's a whole community behind your FREE membership... \n\nThe Senate committee made several changes to the _version of the bill_ the House Appropriations Committee proposed _in June_ – adding $10 million to the telemedicine fund, $5 million to the Community Connect Grant Program, but reducing the proposed ReConnect budget by nearly $56 million.\n\nThursday’s Senate committee vote marks the latest in a turbulent budget season for rural broadband programs.\n\nIn May, the Trump administration _proposed eliminating the USDA’s Reconnect Program entirely_, calling it redundant. The House Appropriations Committee rejected that recommendation and in June _proposed $90 million for ReConnect_ – more than doubling its FY2025 budget. Now, the Senate’s version scales that back to $35 million, setting up a potential funding showdown between the two chambers in the weeks ahead.\n\n“The bill also eliminates funding for the Biden-era _Rural Partners Network_ initiative and maintains ‘Buy American’ provisions that maximize the federal government’s use of domestic products,” the Senate Appropriations Committee said in a _press release_ Thursday. The item has been placed on the _Senate legislative calendar_ for consideration.",
  "title": "Senate Panel Advances USDA Budget, Trims ReConnect in FY26",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T03:26:17.414Z"
}