High-speed internet will be the centerpiece of rural economic development legislation drafted by the House Agriculture Committee, said chairman David Scott on Monday. Scott said he expects the committee will call a hearing on rural broadband in early April with a bipartisan bill to follow.
“Sometimes, we’ve got to say, here is what we want and put the money down,” said Scott during the online Ag and Food Policy Summit. “We’ve got to be smart and develop rural broadband as a centerpiece of our rural development because if you don’t have rural broadband there, you’re not going to have the growth, development, that we need.”
Rural internet service often is slower than in urban areas.
Scott also said the committee would hold a hearing in the future on carbon markets.