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S. 323 119th Congress Senate

PLAN for Broadband Act

Official title: A bill to direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to develop a National Strategy to Synchronize Federal Broadband Programs, and for other purposes.

Introduced: January 29, 2025 Introduced by: Roger F. Wicker Republican · Mississippi See on congress.gov
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 Everywhere this bill has been 6 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jun 1, 2026
By Senator Cruz from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 119-123. Minority views filed.
May 21, 2026
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 421.
May 21, 2026
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with amendments. Without written report.
Mar 12, 2025
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
Jan 29, 2025
Introduced in Senate
Jan 29, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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What's happening now June 1, 2026

By Senator Cruz from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 119-123. Minority views filed.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Proper Leadership to Align Networks for Broadband Act or the PLAN for Broadband Act

This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop and implement a national strategy to improve the coordination and management of federal broadband programs and agency consideration of applications to build or maintain broadband infrastructure on federal property. 

The NTIA must also develop and publish for public comment a plan for the implementation of the national strategy. Among other requirements, the implementation plan must establish, for federal broadband programs that are not technologically neutral (i.e., programs that involve a preference for certain broadband technologies), a ceiling on the amount of funding that may be awarded to support the provision of broadband service to a single location. 

The bill also requires executive branch agencies to identify and address factors that contribute to delays in their review of applications for easements, rights-of-way, or leases related to communications infrastructure projects on federal property. (Under current law, agencies are generally required to act on such applications within 270 days.) Agencies must also establish methods to alert employees when the agency is at risk of failing to meet the 270-day deadline with respect to a particular application. 

Finally, the bill lowers the cost threshold for certain broadband infrastructure projects to qualify as covered projects under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act from $200 million to $5 million. Such projects qualify for expedited federal environmental review.

 Hearings & markups 1
 Related & companion bills 1
  • S 866 Accelerating Broadband Permits Act
 Bill text 2 versions

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 36

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

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 Cosponsors 2
All 2 Democratic 2
D
Luján, Ben Ray
New Mexico · Jan 29, 2025
 D
Welch, Peter
Vermont · Jan 29, 2025
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 323: PLAN for Broadband Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-323/
MLA
"S. 323: PLAN for Broadband Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-323/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 323, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-323/.
Markdown link
[S. 323: PLAN for Broadband Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-323/)
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