NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association issued the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield on the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act introduced by Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Mike Kelly (R-PA), which seeks to promote greater broadband deployment by ending taxation of certain governmental broadband grant funds. A similar bill, the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act, was introduced in the Senate earlier this year.
“We are grateful that Congress committed tens of billions of dollars to broadband deployment grants through recent bills seeking to help close the digital divide in our country. But taxing broadband grants—requiring recipients to pay back to the government a portion of what they receive from the government—will dramatically reduce the impact of these programs and likely leave the hardest-to-reach communities without essential connectivity for even longer. It is critical that all broadband grant funds go toward their intended purpose of network deployment. NTCA is proud to support the ‘Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act,’ and on behalf of our members, I want to thank Representatives Jimmy Panetta and Mike Kelly for introducing the bill. This legislation will maximize the impact of every dollar granted for broadband deployment and further the mission of getting every American connected.”