E-BRIDGE Broadband Law Signed by Biden

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2025 – A recent bill signed into law will help promote broadband partnerships between rural communities and the private sector.

The Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility (E-BRIDGE) Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden last week. The bill was initially introduced by House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., back in March, 2023.

The law is intended to make it easier for businesses in underserved rural communities who get assistance from the Economic Development Administration to get broadband. It will ensure that underresourced communities can partner with the private sector for their broadband projects using EDA grants, without the worry of not meeting eligibility requirements and losing their funding.

The law hopes to increase broadband access to rural and poor communities, with the hope that will attract new businesses to these regions and lay the foundation for economic recovery.

“Unfortunately, too many of our communities, particularly in rural America, still lack broadband access,” Rep. Graves said in a press release following the signing of the bill. “The E-Bridge Act will help spur projects that attract jobs and businesses to expand economic development and opportunity in rural and poor communities.”

The E-Bridge Act was part of a bill called the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, which became public law on Jan. 4.