Community Connect Grant Program Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Community Connect Grant Program Act of 2025 amends section 604 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. It raises the program's broadband buildout standard to less than 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream, updates eligible rural area language, and raises existing service thresholds from 10 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream to 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. It also changes the rule for determining eligible service areas by accounting for eligible broadband service that will be provided in the future under enforceable commitments from another broadband funding program. Finally, it extends the authorization date in subsection (g) from 2023 to 2030. The practical effect is to keep the Community Connect program authorized while tightening speed benchmarks and avoiding overlaps with other enforceable broadband awards.
Who Benefits and How
Rural communities lacking higher-speed broadband benefit because funded deployments must meet a 100/20 Mbps standard. Rural broadband providers seeking Community Connect grants benefit from a program authorization extended through 2030. USDA Rural Utilities Service administrators benefit from clearer eligibility thresholds and authority to account for other enforceable broadband deployment commitments. Households and businesses in eligible rural areas benefit if projects deliver faster service than the older 10/1 Mbps benchmark.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Rural broadband providers must meet higher 100/20 Mbps project standards and may lose eligibility where another enforceable funding commitment already covers the area. USDA grant administrators must verify speed availability, rural-area status, and enforceable commitments from other broadband funding programs. Applicants serving areas above 25/3 Mbps or with future funded deployments may be screened out. Federal broadband coordinators must track overlap across Community Connect and other broadband funding programs.
Key Provisions
- Raises the Community Connect project service standard to 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream.
- Raises existing-service thresholds for eligible rural areas to 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream.
- Requires USDA to account for enforceable future broadband deployment commitments under other funding programs.
- Extends Community Connect authorization through 2030.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Modernizes USDA's Community Connect broadband grant program by raising the required project service standard to 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream, raising existing-service thresholds in eligible rural areas from 10/1 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps, accounting for enforceable broadband deployment commitments under other funding programs, and extending program authorization through 2030.
Key Policy Areas
Rural Broadband, USDA, Telecommunications
Primary Purpose
Modernizes USDA's Community Connect broadband grant program by raising the required project service standard to 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream, raising existing-service thresholds in eligible rural areas from 10/1 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps, accounting for enforceable broadband deployment commitments under other funding programs, and extending program authorization through 2030.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Rural communities lacking higher-speed broadband
- Rural broadband providers seeking grants
- USDA Rural Utilities Service administrators
- Rural households
- Rural businesses
Identified Costs
- Rural broadband providers
- USDA grant administrators
- Applicants in areas above eligibility thresholds
- Federal broadband coordinators
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and …
Ms. Stansbury introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to …
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Applicants in areas above eligibility thresholds, Rural broadband providers seeking Community Connect grants
Positive-direction: Rural broadband providers seeking Community Connect grants
Negative-direction: Applicants in areas above eligibility thresholds
Federal broadband coordinators, USDA Rural Utilities Service administrators
Rural communities lacking higher-speed broadband
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology