Closing the digital divide one anchor institution at a time.
SHLB Praises Pallone, Walden, Congress for Amending the Broadband DATA Act March 03, 2020
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Alicja Johnson
Communications Manager
ajohnson@shlb.org
202-263-4626
Washington, D.C. (March 3, 2020) - Today the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition praised Congress for fixing the E-rate and Rural Health Care problem before passing the Broadband DATA Act. The revised bill, which passed the US House earlier today, directs the Federal Communications Commission to improve its broadband mapping data.
“We are extremely pleased that Chairman Pallone and Ranking Member Walden and other congressional leaders agreed to amend the Broadband DATA Act to protect the integrity of the E-rate program,” said John Windhausen Jr., executive director of the SHLB Coalition. “Previous versions of the legislation could have caused thousands of E-rate applicants and potentially Rural Health Care applicants to lose their funding. SHLB is also grateful to Representative Anna Eshoo for ensuring that the FCC’s broadband maps will include anchor institutions. We thank Congress for – quite literally – putting anchor institutions on the map.”
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About SHLB:
The SHLB Coalition is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) advocacy organization that supports open, affordable, high-quality broadband connections for anchor institutions and their surrounding communities. The SHLB Coalition is based in Washington, D.C. and has a diverse membership of commercial and non-commercial organizations from across the United States. To learn more, visit www.shlb.org.