YourVoice.Now Summary
Transparency & AccountabilityFederal internet programs spread across 14 agencies would get one national plan to cut overlap and red tape
Transparency & Accountability
Within 30 days after the national plan goes to Congress, the NTIA must ask the public for comments. Those comments would help shape the step-by-step plan for carrying it out.
The GAO is Congress's own watchdog. It would check whether the plan is helping close the digital divide and suggest fixes. Its report is due one year after the step-by-step plan goes to Congress.
More about this bill
Most people would see no direct change in daily life. The bill asks for a plan to make federal internet programs work better together. Within one year, the federal office that handles internet policy (the NTIA) would write a national plan to close the digital divide. That is the gap between people who have fast, affordable internet and people who don't. The plan would list every federal broadband program across 14 agencies, from farm loans to housing grants. It would look for overlap, waste, and red tape that make it hard for states, cities, and tribes to use the money. It would also aim to speed up permission to put internet lines on federal land and buildings. Within 120 days after that, the office would write a step-by-step plan to carry it out. The public would get a chance to comment. Congress would get progress briefings every 90 days. The GAO (Congress's watchdog) would also check whether the plan works.
Congressional Summary
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 to meet the goal of providing high-speed, affordable broadband internet access services to all individuals in the United States. The strategy must also address barriers, costs, and administrative burdens for state, local, and tribal governments participating in these programs. 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 (1) describe the roles and responsibilities of relevant agencies and interagency mechanisms, and (2) provide a plan for holding agencies accountable for objectives identified in the strategy. The NTIA must submit the strategy and implementation plan to Congress and must periodically brief Congress on implementation progress. Finally, the Government Accountability Office must submit a report to Congress that assesses the efficacy of the strategy and implementation plan and makes recommendations for improving them.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-04-09
- Date Added
- 2026-10-06
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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