S. 323 (119th)Bill Overview

PLAN for Broadband Act

Science, Technology, Communications|Broadcasting, cable, digital technologiesCongressional oversight
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 29, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

<p><strong>Proper Leadership to Align Networks for Broadband Act or the PLAN for Broadband Act</strong></p><p>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.&nbsp;</p><p>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&nbsp;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.&nbsp;</p><p>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.&nbsp;</p><p>Finally, the bill lowers the cost threshold for certain broadband infrastructure projects to qualify as <em>covered projects</em> under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act from $200 million to $5 million.

Why people may split

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Watch point

The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.

<p><strong>Proper Leadership to Align Networks for Broadband Act or the PLAN for Broadband Act</strong></p><p>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.&nbsp;</p><p>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&nbsp;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.&nbsp;</p><p>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.&nbsp;</p><p>Finally, the bill lowers the cost threshold for certain broadband infrastructure projects to qualify as <em>covered projects</em> under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act from $200 million to $5 million.

Passage38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention62/100

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
Likely burdened
  • No clear downsides surfaced yet.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Centrist

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Conservative

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Why this could stall
  • The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for PLAN for Broadband Act.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
Open full analysis