II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 944 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to establish a program to expand access to broadband in unserved and underserved areas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 24, 2021 Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to establish a program to expand access to broadband in unserved and underserved areas, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘State Funding for 4 Internet Expansion Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘State Fix Act 5 of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 944 IS SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF BROADBAND ACCESS. 1 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 2 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 14. EXPANSION OF BROADBAND ACCESS. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The term ‘anchor 7 institution’ means— 8 ‘‘(A) a public or private elementary school 9 or secondary school, as those terms are defined 10 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 11 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 12 7801); 13 ‘‘(B) a library; 14 ‘‘(C) a medical or healthcare provider; 15 ‘‘(D) a museum; 16 ‘‘(E) a public safety entity; 17 ‘‘(F) public housing; 18 ‘‘(G) an institution of higher education, as 19 that term is defined in section 101 of the High- 20 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), in- 21 cluding a community college; or 22 ‘‘(H) any other community support organi- 23 zation or agency. 24 ‘‘(2) AREA.—The term ‘area’ means the geo- 25 graphic unit of measurement with the greatest level 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 944 IS of granularity that is reasonably feasible for the 1 Commission to use in making eligibility determina- 2 tions under this section and in meeting the require- 3 ments and deadlines under this section. 4 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘As- 5 sistant Secretary’ means the Assistant Secretary of 6 Commerce for Communications and Information. 7 ‘‘(4) BROADBAND.—The term ‘broadband’— 8 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term 9 ‘broadband internet access service’ in section 10 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, 11 or any successor regulation; 12 ‘‘(B) includes any service that is the func- 13 tional equivalent of the service described in sub- 14 paragraph (A); and 15 ‘‘(C) does not include dial-up internet ac- 16 cess service. 17 ‘‘(5) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en- 18 tity’— 19 ‘‘(A) means an entity that— 20 ‘‘(i) is owned by, controlled by, affili- 21 ated with, or acting at the direction of an 22 entity that is organized under the laws of, 23 or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, 24 a country, the government of which is on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 944 IS the priority watch list established by the 1 United States Trade Representative pursu- 2 ant to section 182(a) of the Trade Act of 3 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242(a)); and 4 ‘‘(ii) has engaged in an action that is 5 prohibited under— 6 ‘‘(I) section 1(a) of Executive 7 Order 13873 (84 Fed. Reg. 22689; 8 relating to securing the information 9 and communications technology and 10 services supply chain); or 11 ‘‘(II) any regulations issued in 12 response to the Executive Order de- 13 scribed in subclause (I); and 14 ‘‘(B) includes any subsidiary, affiliate, em- 15 ployee, or representative of, and any related 16 party with respect to, an entity described in 17 subparagraph (A), without regard to the loca- 18 tion or jurisdiction of incorporation of that sub- 19 sidiary, affiliate, employee, representative, or 20 party, as applicable. 21 ‘‘(6) FUNDING RECIPIENT.—The term ‘funding 22 recipient’ means an entity that receives funding for 23 a project under this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 944 IS ‘‘(7) PROGRAM.—Unless otherwise expressly in- 1 dicated, the term ‘program’ means the program es- 2 tablished under subsection (b). 3 ‘‘(8) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ means a 4 project that uses funding made available under this 5 section to construct and deploy infrastructure for 6 the provision of broadband. 7 ‘‘(9) PUBLIC HOUSING.—The term ‘public hous- 8 ing’— 9 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term in 10 section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act 11 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)); and 12 ‘‘(B) includes housing receiving tenant- 13 based rental assistance provided under section 14 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 15 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)). 16 ‘‘(10) REVERSE AUCTION.—The term ‘reverse 17 auction’ means an auction in which— 18 ‘‘(A) bids are submitted for a project by 19 the entities that would construct or deploy in- 20 frastructure for the provision of broadband 21 under the project; and 22 ‘‘(B) the winning bid is the bid that pro- 23 poses serving an area for the lowest cost, taking 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 944 IS into consideration the preferences under sub- 1 section (d)(2). 2 ‘‘(11) UNDERSERVED AREA.—The term ‘under- 3 served area’ means an area in which more than 10 4 percent, but not more than 50 percent, of the popu- 5 lation of the area has access to broadband— 6 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of not less 7 than 25 megabits per second and not more than 8 50 megabits per second; and 9 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of not less than 10 3 megabits per second. 11 ‘‘(12) UNSERVED ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The 12 term ‘unserved anchor institution’ means an anchor 13 institution that does not have access to broadband 14 offered— 15 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of not less 16 than 100 megabits per second; and 17 ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of not less than 18 10 megabits per second. 19 ‘‘(13) UNSERVED AREA.—The term ‘unserved 20 area’ means an area in which not more than 10 per- 21 cent of the population of the area has access to 22 broadband— 23 ‘‘(A) with a download speed of not less 24 than 25 megabits per second; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 944 IS ‘‘(B) with an upload speed of not less than 1 3 megabits per second. 2 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Not later than 300 3 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Com- 4 mission, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary, shall 5 establish a program— 6 ‘‘(1) to expand access to broadband in unserved 7 areas and underserved areas, and for unserved an- 8 chor institutions, in accordance with the require- 9 ments of this section; and 10 ‘‘(2) that— 11 ‘‘(A) is separate from any universal service 12 program established under section 254; and 13 ‘‘(B) does not require a funding recipient 14 to be designated as an eligible telecommuni- 15 cations carrier under section 214(e). 16 ‘‘(c) USE OF PROGRAM FUNDS.— 17 ‘‘(1) PUBLIC NOTICE.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 300 19 days after the date of enactment of this section, 20 the Commission shall publish in the Federal 21 Register a notice informing each State and the 22 public that amounts made available to carry out 23 this section shall be distributed under this sub- 24 section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 944 IS ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The notice published 1 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 2 ‘‘(i) the manner in which a State shall 3 inform the Commission of the acceptance 4 by that State, in whole or in part, of the 5 amounts to be distributed to the State 6 under this subsection; 7 ‘‘(ii) a notification that the acceptance 8 described in clause (i) shall be due on the 9 date that is 45 days after the date on 10 which the Commission issues the public no- 11 tice; and 12 ‘‘(iii) the requirements with respect to 13 the use of the distributed amounts under 14 this section and under any further require- 15 ments that the Commission may prescribe. 16 ‘‘(2) ACCEPTANCE BY STATES.—Not later than 17 45 days after the date on which the Commission 18 publishes the notice required under paragraph (1), 19 each State accepting amounts to be distributed 20 under this subsection shall inform the Commission 21 of the acceptance, in whole or in part, by the State 22 of those amounts in the manner described by the 23 Commission in the notice. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 944 IS ‘‘(3) EXPANDING ACCESS TO BROADBAND 1 THROUGH STATES.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 3 after the date of enactment of this section, the 4 Commission shall distribute amounts made 5 available to carry out this section among the 6 States that have agreed to accept the funds. 7 ‘‘(B) FORMULAS.—The amount that a 8 State receives under subparagraph (A) shall be 9 the sum of— 10 ‘‘(i) the amount obtained by— 11 ‘‘(I) dividing the number of indi- 12 viduals living in unserved areas in the 13 State by the total number of individ- 14 uals living in unserved areas in the 15 United States; and 16 ‘‘(II) multiplying 80 percent of 17 the amount made available to carry 18 out this section by the quotient ob- 19 tained under subclause (I); and 20 ‘‘(ii) the amount obtained by— 21 ‘‘(I) dividing the number of indi- 22 viduals living in underserved areas in 23 the State by the total number of indi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 944 IS viduals living in underserved areas in 1 the United States; and 2 ‘‘(II) multiplying 20 percent of 3 the amount made available to carry 4 out this section by the quotient ob- 5 tained under subclause (I). 6 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT OF 7 AMOUNTS DISTRIBUTED.—Each State accepting 8 amounts distributed under this subsection— 9 ‘‘(A) may allocate those amounts only 10 through a statewide reverse auction or auctions, 11 in the manner prescribed by the State, subject 12 to the requirements of this section (including 13 the rules promulgated under subsection (g)) 14 and any further requirements that the Commis- 15 sion may prescribe; 16 ‘‘(B) may make an allocation under sub- 17 paragraph (A) only— 18 ‘‘(i) to a funding recipient to expand 19 access to broadband in unserved areas 20 within the State; 21 ‘‘(ii) to a funding recipient to expand 22 access to broadband for unserved anchor 23 institutions located in the State; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 944 IS ‘‘(iii) if a State does not have, or no 1 longer has, an unserved area within the 2 State, to a funding recipient to expand ac- 3 cess to broadband in underserved areas in 4 the State; 5 ‘‘(C) shall— 6 ‘‘(i) not later than 10 years after the 7 date of enactment of this section, return to 8 the Commission any unused portion of 9 those amounts; and 10 ‘‘(ii) before accepting those amounts, 11 submit to the Commission a certification 12 that the State will comply with clause (i); 13 and 14 ‘‘(D) may not use more than 5 percent of 15 those amounts to administer a reverse auction 16 that complies with the requirements of this sec- 17 tion. 18 ‘‘(5) DISTRIBUTION OF REMAINING FUNDS.—In 19 the case of any amounts remaining after the 20 amounts made available to carry out this section are 21 distributed under this subsection, the Commission 22 shall transfer those amounts to the general fund of 23 the Treasury, where those transferred amounts shall 24 be dedicated for the sole purpose of deficit reduction. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 944 IS ‘‘(d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 1 ‘‘(1) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY REQUIRED.—A 2 State administering a reverse auction to make 3 awards under subsection (c) may not favor a project 4 using any particular technology. 5 ‘‘(2) BIDDING PREFERENCE.—Consistent with 6 the program, there shall be a preference, as deter- 7 mined by the entity administering a reverse auction, 8 for a bidder in the reverse auction that proposes a 9 project that is described by any of the following: 10 ‘‘(A) Not less than 20 percent of the funds 11 provided by the bidder with respect to the 12 project are matched from private sources. 13 ‘‘(B) The project would expand access to 14 broadband on Tribal lands, as that term is de- 15 fined by the Commission. 16 ‘‘(C) The project would provide broadband 17 that has— 18 ‘‘(i) a latency of not more than 50 19 milliseconds; and 20 ‘‘(ii)(I) a download speed that is not 21 less than 100 megabits per second or an 22 upload speed of not less than 20 megabits 23 per second; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S944.IS S944 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 944 IS ‘‘(II) a download speed of not less 1 than 1 gigabit per second or an upload 2 speed of not less than 100 megabits per 3 second. 4 ‘‘(D) The project would expand access to 5 broadband in advance of the time specified in 6 subsection (g)(1)(D). 7 ‘‘(E) The project would expand access to 8 broadband to areas in which the median house- 9 hold income is below 150 percent of the poverty 10 threshold, as defined by the Bureau of the Cen- 11 sus. 12 ‘‘(F) The project would provide affordable 13 payment options to subscribers in locations 14 served. 15 ‘‘(3) NOTICE, TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNT- 16 ABILITY, AND OVERSIGHT REQUIRED.—The program 17 shall contain sufficient notice, transparency, ac- 18 countability, and oversight measures to— 19 ‘‘(A) provide the public with notice regard- 20 ing the assistance provided under this section; 21 and 22 ‘‘(B) deter waste, fraud, and abuse with 23 respect to program funds. 24 VerDate Sep 11 201 [Text truncated for display. 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