Promoting Access to Broadband Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1102 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a program to make grants to States to inform Medicaid enrollees, SNAP partici- pants, and low-income residents of potential eligibility for the Lifeline program of the Commission. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 13, 2021 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. MURRAY, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Com- merce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To direct the Federal Communications Commission to estab- lish a program to make grants to States to inform Med- icaid enrollees, SNAP participants, and low-income resi- dents of potential eligibility for the Lifeline program of the Commission. 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 ‘‘Promoting Access to 4 Broadband Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1102 IS SEC. 2. LIFELINE ENROLLMENT OUTREACH GRANTS. 1 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 3 means the Federal Communications Commission. 4 (2) COVERED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘‘cov- 5 ered individuals’’ means— 6 (A) Medicaid enrollees; 7 (B) SNAP participants; and 8 (C) low-income residents. 9 (3) ELIGIBLE-BUT-NOT-ENROLLED.—The term 10 ‘‘eligible-but-not-enrolled’’ means, with respect to an 11 individual, that the individual is eligible for the Life- 12 line program but is not enrolled in the Lifeline pro- 13 gram. 14 (4) LIFELINE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Lifeline 15 program’’ means the Lifeline program of the Com- 16 mission. 17 (5) LOW-INCOME.—The term ‘‘low-income’’ 18 means a gross annual income at or below 135 per- 19 cent of the Federal poverty level. 20 (6) MEDICAID ENROLLEE.—The term ‘‘Med- 21 icaid enrollee’’ means, with respect to a State, an in- 22 dividual enrolled in the State plan under title XIX 23 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) 24 or a waiver of that plan. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1102 IS (7) REACH.—The term ‘‘reach’’ means, with re- 1 spect to an individual, to inform the individual of po- 2 tential eligibility for the Lifeline program and to 3 provide the individual with information about the 4 Lifeline program, as described in subsection (e). 5 (8) SNAP PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘SNAP 6 participant’’ means an individual who is a member 7 of a household that participates in the supplemental 8 nutrition assistance program under the Food and 9 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 10 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 11 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 12 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 13 United States, and each federally recognized Indian 14 Tribe. 15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission shall estab- 16 lish a competitive program to make grants to States to 17 inform covered individuals of potential eligibility for the 18 Lifeline program. 19 (c) APPLICATION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may only 21 award a grant under this section to a State that 22 submits an application at such time, in such form, 23 and with such information and assurances as the 24 Commission may require. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1102 IS (2) MATTERS REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED.— 1 An application submitted by a State under para- 2 graph (1) shall include— 3 (A) the number of covered individuals in 4 the State; 5 (B) a plan for the activities that the State 6 will conduct using grant funds, including a list 7 of each agency within the State that will assist 8 in carrying out those activities; and 9 (C) an estimate of the percentage of eligi- 10 ble-but-not-enrolled individuals in the State who 11 will be reached by those activities. 12 (d) SELECTION.— 13 (1) MINIMUM OF 5 STATES.—The Commission 14 shall award grants under this section to not fewer 15 than 5 States. 16 (2) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In award- 17 ing grants under this section, the Commission shall 18 give favorable consideration— 19 (A) to States that have higher numbers of 20 covered individuals; and 21 (B) to States proposing, in the plans sub- 22 mitted under subsection (c)(2)(B), to conduct 23 activities that have the potential to reach higher 24 percentages of eligible-but-not-enrolled individ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1102 IS uals in those States, as determined by the Com- 1 mission, taking into consideration the estimates 2 submitted under subsection (c)(2)(C). 3 (3) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In awarding 4 grants under this section, the Commission shall, to 5 the maximum extent practicable, select States from 6 different geographic regions of the United States. 7 (e) USE OF FUNDS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 9 grant under this section shall use grant funds, in ac- 10 cordance with the plan included in the application of 11 the State under subsection (c)(2)(B), to— 12 (A) inform covered individuals and organi- 13 zations or agencies that serve those individuals, 14 as the case may be under the terms of the 15 grant awarded to the State, of potential eligi- 16 bility for the Lifeline program; 17 (B) provide those covered individuals with 18 information about the Lifeline program, includ- 19 ing— 20 (i) how to apply for the Lifeline pro- 21 gram; and 22 (ii) a description of the prohibition on 23 more than 1 subscriber in each household 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1102 IS receiving a service provided under the Life- 1 line program; and 2 (C) partner with nonprofit and community- 3 based organizations to provide those covered in- 4 dividuals with assistance applying for the Life- 5 line program and information about product 6 and technology choices. 7 (2) MULTIPLE STATE AGENCIES.—A State that 8 receives a grant under this section may provide 9 grant funds to 1 or more agencies located within the 10 State to carry out the activities under the grant. 11 (f) OUTREACH TO STATES REGARDING GRANT PRO- 12 GRAM.—Before accepting applications for the grant pro- 13 gram established under this section, the Commission shall 14 conduct outreach to States to ensure that States are aware 15 of the grant program and how to apply for a grant under 16 the grant program. 17 (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 19 establishing the grant program under this section, 20 the Commission shall submit to Congress a report 21 evaluating the effectiveness of the grant program. 22 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 23 paragraph (1) shall include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1102 IS (A) the number of individuals notified of 1 Lifeline program eligibility by States receiving 2 grants under this section; 3 (B) the number of new applicants to the 4 Lifeline program from States receiving grants 5 under this section, including the number of 6 those applicants whose Lifeline program appli- 7 cations were approved and the number of those 8 applicants whose Lifeline program applications 9 were denied; and 10 (C) the cost-effectiveness of the grant pro- 11 gram established under this section. 12 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 13 authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such 14 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section for 15 the first 5 full fiscal years beginning after the establish- 16 ment of the grant program under this section. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1102.IS S1102 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS