FCC must check broadband companies before giving federal money

What it does

The bill tells the FCC to check broadband companies first. Companies must show they can do the work and have enough money. The FCC will look at their past work with government programs. Companies that fail to deliver must pay at least $9,000 per failure. They must also give back at least 30% of the money they got.

Who it affects

Rural areas get better protection from wasted money. Broadband companies must prove they can deliver before getting paid.

One thing to notice

The FCC can lower the penalties if it wants to. The new rules only apply to money given out after the rules are written.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

4 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Jan 15, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jan 15, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
• Feb 5, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
• Jun 26, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote. (consideration: CR S3570; text: CR S3570)”
• Apr 20, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2977)”
• Apr 20, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Allen moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
• Apr 30, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
• May 11, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-89”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 7 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $2,488,705 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 24 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 72% of bills with any report.

Shelley Capito, who sponsored the bill, received $1,990,091 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Cox Enterprises Inc. — $1,320,000 in 2 reports
• Structured Finance Association — $663,705 in 2 reports
• National Telecommunications Cooperative Association — $280,000 in 1 report
• Wta -- Advocates for Rural Broadband — $225,000 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• FCC — The Federal Communications Commission, the government agency that makes rules about internet
• federal money — Money from the U.S. government
• broadband — Fast internet service
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.