II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 608 To help small business broadband providers keep customers connected. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 4, 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. SMITH, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. ERNST, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. KELLY, Mr. COTTON, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MORAN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. BALD- WIN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. BENNET, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. HAWLEY, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To help small business broadband providers keep customers connected. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keeping Critical Con- 4 nections Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. KEEPING CRITICAL CONNECTIONS EMERGENCY 6 FUND. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S608.IS S608 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 608 IS (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 1 Communications Commission; 2 (2) the term ‘‘covered program’’ means a pro- 3 gram established by a small business broadband pro- 4 vider under which the small business broadband pro- 5 vider, at any time during the COVID–19 emergency 6 period, voluntarily— 7 (A) provides a customer with free or dis- 8 counted broadband service, or free upgrades of 9 existing service to meet certain capacity and 10 speed needs, due specifically to the presence of 11 a student in the household of the customer who 12 needs distance learning capability; or 13 (B) refrains from disconnecting broadband 14 service provided to an existing customer due to 15 nonpayment or underpayment if the customer— 16 (i) has a household income, at the 17 time of the nonpayment or underpayment, 18 that does not exceed 135 percent of the 19 Federal poverty guidelines (as determined 20 by the Secretary of Health and Human 21 Services); 22 (ii) is unable to make a full payment 23 due specifically to the economic impact of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S608.IS S608 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 608 IS the national emergency described in para- 1 graph (3); and 2 (iii) provides sufficient documentation 3 to the provider to show that the customer 4 meets the criteria under clauses (i) and 5 (ii); 6 (3) the term ‘‘COVID–19 emergency period’’ 7 means the period during which the national emer- 8 gency declaration by the President under the Na- 9 tional Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 10 with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 11 (COVID–19) is in effect; and 12 (4) the term ‘‘small business broadband pro- 13 vider’’ means a broadband provider that provides 14 broadband service to fewer than 250,000 customers. 15 (b) FUNDING.— 16 (1) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any funds in the 17 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is appro- 18 priated to the Commission $2,000,000,000 for fiscal 19 year 2021, to remain available until expended, to re- 20 imburse small business broadband providers for the 21 costs of carrying out a covered program. 22 (2) RULES.—The Commission shall promulgate 23 rules on an expedited basis, and without regard to 24 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, regarding 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S608.IS S608 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 608 IS the provision of reimbursements to small business 1 broadband providers under paragraph (1). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S608.IS S608 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS