Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 11/8/21

The department is wading into the net neutrality crossfire with its ReConnect broadband program, which is making available more than $1 billion in connectivity loans and grants for internet service providers. But applicants committing to net neutrality will get a leg up, per USDA’s new evaluation criteria, our Pro Tech friends tell MA.

Here’s the rub: ISPs currently aren’t legally required to abide by anything of the sort. Democrats including Biden, however, have widely called for a return to net neutrality regulations ever since the Trump-era FCC rolled back these rules in 2017. Although Democrats had said they feared ISPs would block and throttle consumers’ internet traffic in the absence of regulation, ISPs have generally followed these principles voluntarily.

USDA’s move is a small way to try to make sure ISPs keep up this behavior as left-leaning advocates await a Democratic majority at the FCC, which might try to revive such safeguards in 2022.

But USDA is making waves: 13 Senate Republicans just asked Vilsack to back off, calling the provision “dangerous.” USDA officials didn’t say whether they coordinated with the FCC on the language, simply telling our Pro Tech colleagues that the department is working to “respond as promptly as possible.”