U.S. Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Reduce Red Tape and Expand …
which will help relieve these burdens and enable small providers to focus more on their core mission of deploying and operating advanced broadband networks in rural areas,” said Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association.
“Lakeland Communications is a rural local community-based provider in northwest Wisconsin. On behalf of our Lakeland and similarly situated rural providers, we are very grateful to see Senator Baldwin and her office pass the vital and critical ACCESS Rural America Act,” said John Klatt, President and CEO of Lakeland Communications in Wisconsin. “As the BEAD program invests $42.4 billion in funding for expanding broadband, the nation needs local, community-based providers now more than ever. ACCESS Rural America will enable us to get back to doing more network building, connecting fiber optic in rural settings, and supporting the business of the good people of rural Wisconsin, while spending less of our resources on burdensome SEC regulation compliance. We now call on the US House of Representatives to pass the ACCESS Rural America Act as soon as possible. Kudos to Senator Baldwin!”
In addition to Senators Baldwin and Ernst, the ACCESS Rural America Act is also co-sponsored by Senators Krysten Sinema (I-AZ), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Full text of this legislation is available here.