Senate Committee Advances Farm Bill
The bill would codify ReConnect and update service requirements
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2026 – The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its 2027 farm bill Wednesday along party lines.
The bill would codify the Department of Agriculture's ReConnect program and update its eligibility and build out standards.
ReConnect has spent $5.5 billion on rural broadband projects since 2018, but has in all that time operated as a pilot program.
Senate Republicans’ farm bill would allow $100 million to be appropriated for ReConnect annually through 2031, but wouldn’t actually set the money aside.
The House-passed USDA funding bill, which makes the appropriations for the agency’s programs, would provide $40 million for the program in fiscal year 2027. Senate appropriators have not released the text of their FY27 USDA funding bill.
The Senate farm bill would also target ReConnect projects at areas where 90 percent of households lack access to 25 * 3 megabits per second (Mbps) broadband, and require minimum speeds of 100 * 20 Mbps for funded builds.
It included provisions aimed at preventing the regulation of broadband rates as part of the program and increasing coordination among broadband funding agencies.
The bill would also reduce some permitting reviews on U.S. Forest Service land, which broadband trade group USTelecom was pleased with.
"By streamlining permitting and cutting duplicative reviews on Forest Service lands, the Farm Bill 2.0 helps providers spend less time navigating bureaucracy," and more time building broadband networks, USTelecom govenrment affairs official Brandon Heiner said in a statement.
Because of the Senate’s filibuster rules, Senate Republicans will have to get some Democrats on board to pass the farm bill. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and will need to marshal 60 votes for the bill to clear the chamber.
The House farm bill, which the chamber passed in April by a margin of 224-200, would also codify ReConnect and reauthorize other USDA broadband programs. The bill would set minimum speeds for ReConnect-funded projects at 50 * 25 Mbps, less than the 100 * 20 Mbps federal standard for high-speed broadband, and also target eligibility at areas lacking access to 25 * 3 Mbps service.
The Senate version of the bill is led by Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., the chair of the chamber’s agriculture committee.
The legislation advanced out of the committee by a 12-11 vote along party lines. It was able to move forward because Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., returned to Congress after spending three months recovering from a fall.
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., had an amendment to the bill that would have bumped ReConnect’s minimum service standard to 100 * 100 Mbps, but it wasn’t considered.
Karl Elmshaeuser, head of USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, said at an April event that a sixth round of ReConnect funding would be coming “sooner than later.” One has not yet been announced.
