NEWS RELEASE
OFFICE OF SEN. GARY PETERS
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.) helped lead bipartisan legislation to improve federal programs that help ensure rural and underserved communities have equitable access to broadband service. The Rural Broadband Protection Act – which Peters cosponsored with senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), and John Curtis (R-Utah) – would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to certify that federal funding goes toward companies and internet service providers with proven track records in deploying broadband in rural areas. The bill recently passed the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
“Access to affordable, high-speed internet is essential, whether it’s for school, work, seeing your doctor, or running a business, and I’ve been proud to secure robust federal investments in our state to help ensure every Michigander can get connected,” said Peters, a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “This bipartisan legislation would make sure these federal resources are awarded to organizations with experience in effectively delivering broadband service to rural and underserved communities who need it most.”
The FCC’s Connect America Fund (CAF) provides funding to ensure consumers in rural, insular, and high-cost areas have access to essential broadband services. In 2022, more than $8 million in fines were filed against CAF awardees who did not meet the requirements of their funding agreements to improve service in underserved areas. The Rural Broadband Protection Act would require future applicants, either under CAF or a new high-cost universal service program, to undergo a vetting process to help ensure broadband infrastructure investments are effectively implemented in the intended communities.
Peters is committed to expanding high-speed internet access across Michigan. In June 2023, he announced that Michigan would receive more than $1.5 billion in federal funding from the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, known as BEAD, to increase high-speed internet access. In 2023, Peters announced a more than $38 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support rural communities across Michigan, which was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law. In 2024, he secured $27 million for Northern Michigan University to upgrade their Educational Access Network, enabling the university to expand broadband access beyond the thousands of students and families they serve in communities across the Upper Peninsula.
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