Promoting Access to Broadband Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4529 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a program to make grants to States to inform Medicaid enrollees and SNAP partici- pants of potential eligibility for the Lifeline program of the Commission. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Federal Communications Commission to estab- lish a program to make grants to States to inform Med- icaid enrollees and SNAP participants of potential eligi- bility 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 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. LIFELINE ENROLLMENT OUTREACH GRANTS. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4529.IH H4529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4529 IH (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 1 means the Federal Communications Commission. 2 (2) COVERED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘‘cov- 3 ered individuals’’ means— 4 (A) in the case of a State applying for a 5 grant to inform Medicaid enrollees of potential 6 Lifeline program eligibility, Medicaid enrollees; 7 (B) in the case of a State applying for a 8 grant to inform SNAP participants of potential 9 Lifeline program eligibility, SNAP participants; 10 and 11 (C) in the case of a State applying for a 12 grant to inform both Medicaid enrollees and 13 SNAP participants of potential Lifeline pro- 14 gram eligibility, Medicaid enrollees and SNAP 15 participants. 16 (3) ELIGIBLE-BUT-NOT-ENROLLED.—The term 17 ‘‘eligible-but-not-enrolled’’ means, with respect to an 18 individual, that the individual is eligible for the Life- 19 line program but is not enrolled in the Lifeline pro- 20 gram. 21 (4) LIFELINE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Lifeline 22 program’’ means the Lifeline program of the Com- 23 mission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4529.IH H4529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4529 IH (5) MEDICAID ENROLLEE.—The term ‘‘Med- 1 icaid enrollee’’ means, with respect to a State, an in- 2 dividual enrolled in the State plan under title XIX 3 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) 4 or a waiver of that plan. 5 (6) REACH.—The term ‘‘reach’’ means, with re- 6 spect to an individual, to inform the individual of po- 7 tential eligibility for the Lifeline program and to 8 provide the individual with information about the 9 Lifeline program, as described in subsection (e). 10 (7) SNAP PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘SNAP 11 participant’’ means an individual who is a member 12 of a household that participates in the supplemental 13 nutrition assistance program under the Food and 14 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 15 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 16 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 17 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 18 United States, and each federally recognized Indian 19 Tribe. 20 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission shall estab- 21 lish a competitive program to make grants to States to 22 inform Medicaid enrollees or SNAP participants, or both, 23 of potential eligibility for the Lifeline program. 24 (c) APPLICATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4529.IH H4529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4529 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may only 1 award a grant under this section to a State that 2 submits an application at such time, in such form, 3 and with such information and assurances as the 4 Commission may require. 5 (2) MATTERS REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED.— 6 An application submitted by a State under para- 7 graph (1) shall include— 8 (A) the number of covered individuals in 9 the State; 10 (B) a plan for the activities that the State 11 will conduct using grant funds, including a list 12 of each agency within the State that will assist 13 in carrying out those activities; and 14 (C) an estimate of the percentage of eligi- 15 ble-but-not-enrolled individuals in the State who 16 will be reached by those activities. 17 (d) SELECTION.— 18 (1) MINIMUM OF 5 STATES.—The Commission 19 shall award grants under this section to not fewer 20 than 5 States. 21 (2) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In award- 22 ing grants under this section, the Commission shall 23 give favorable consideration— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4529.IH H4529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4529 IH (A) to States that have higher numbers of 1 covered individuals; and 2 (B) to States proposing, in the plans sub- 3 mitted under subsection (c)(2)(B), to conduct 4 activities that have the potential to reach higher 5 percentages of eligible-but-not-enrolled individ- 6 uals in those States, as determined by the Com- 7 mission, taking into consideration the estimates 8 submitted under subsection (c)(2)(C). 9 (3) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In awarding 10 grants under this section, the Commission shall, to 11 the maximum extent practicable, select States from 12 different geographic regions of the United States. 13 (e) USE OF FUNDS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 15 grant under this section shall use grant funds, in ac- 16 cordance with the plan included in the application of 17 the State under subsection (c)(2)(B), to— 18 (A) inform Medicaid enrollees or SNAP 19 participants, or both, and organizations or 20 agencies that serve those individuals, as the 21 case may be under the terms of the grant 22 awarded to the State, of potential eligibility for 23 the Lifeline program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4529.IH H4529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4529 IH (B) provide those enrollees or participants, 1 or both, as the case may be, with information 2 about the Lifeline program, including— 3 (i) how to apply for the Lifeline pro- 4 gram; and 5 (ii) a description of the prohibition on 6 more than 1 subscriber in each household 7 receiving a service provided under the Life- 8 line program; and 9 (C) partner with nonprofit and community- 10 based organizations to provide those enrollees 11 or participants, or both, as the case may be, 12 with assistance applying for the Lifeline pro- 13 gram and information about product and tech- 14 nology choices. 15 (2) MULTIPLE STATE AGENCIES.—A State that 16 receives a grant under this section may provide 17 grant funds to one or more agencies located within 18 the State to carry out the activities under the grant. 19 (f) OUTREACH TO STATES REGARDING GRANT PRO- 20 GRAM.—Before accepting applications for the grant pro- 21 gram established under this section, the Commission shall 22 conduct outreach to States to ensure that States are aware 23 of the grant program and how to apply for a grant under 24 the grant program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4529.IH H4529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4529 IH (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 2 establishing the grant program under this section, 3 the Commission shall submit to Congress a report 4 evaluating the effectiveness of the grant program. 5 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 6 paragraph (1) shall include— 7 (A) the number of individuals notified of 8 Lifeline program eligibility by States receiving 9 grants under this section; 10 (B) the number of new applicants to the 11 Lifeline program from States receiving grants 12 under this section, including the number of 13 those applicants whose Lifeline program appli- 14 cations were approved and the number of those 15 applicants whose Lifeline program applications 16 were denied; and 17 (C) the cost-effectiveness of the grant pro- 18 gram established under this section. 19 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 20 authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such 21 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section for 22 the first 5 full fiscal years beginning after the establish- 23 ment of the grant program under this section. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4529.IH H4529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS