Boucher in March cosponsored a bill that would include services such as VOIP (voice over IP) as USF funding sources and allowing recipients of USF money to deploy broadband services. The measure went nowhere, partly because of Republican calls to abolish USF. Boucher said he's optimistic USF reform will get another look in the next Congress.

H-1B visas and the innovation agenda

Many tech companies will continue to push for an increase in the cap on H-1B visas for high-skilled immigrant workers. Microsoft and other tech companies have asked for an increase in the cap from 65,000 workers a year to 115,000. The 2007 cap was reached two months before the fiscal year started in October.

A Senate bill introduced in March sought to raise the cap, but the H-1B proposal was stalled when a larger debate about legal and illegal immigration grew contentious. Microsoft has "thousands" of open technical positions, and a higher cap is needed, Krumholtz said.

U.S. schools aren't providing enough graduate students in technology fields to keep up with the demand for the top level of workers, he said. "What we're talking about is the cream of the crop," he added.

Some tech worker groups have complained that tech companies break the rules by hiring H-1B workers for less than the prevailing U.S. wage. Lawmakers are beginning to notice complaints about the abuses, said Russell Harrison, legislative representative for grassroots affairs at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA, which represents IT workers.

"Rather than a simple discussion of whether or not to increase the cap, the new Congress will, I think, look more seriously at reforming the program," Harrison said.

Many tech companies have included the H-1B program as part of a larger push often called the "innovation agenda." Leaders of both parties have talked up proposals to promote U.S. innovation, including more money for math and science education, more money for IT training programs and broadband availability for all U.S. residents.

But Republicans failed to act on many of those proposals, and new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, didn't include the innovation agenda in her "first 100 hours" plan, even though she repeatedly called on Republicans to pass innovation items during the last two years.

"I'm not sure how much of a priority it will really be," Harrison said. "Plus, some of the Democrats seem to be sincerely interested in controlling spending. I suspect new programs ... will be hard to pass next year for lack of money."