Broadband Parity Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2816 To ensure that fixed broadband internet access service assisted by any Federal broadband support program meets a minimum speed threshold. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 7, 2019 Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To ensure that fixed broadband internet access service as- sisted by any Federal broadband support program meets a minimum speed threshold. 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 ‘‘Broadband Parity Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2816.IS S2816 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2816 IS (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 1 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 2 United States Code. 3 (2) FEDERAL BROADBAND SUPPORT PRO- 4 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal broadband support pro- 5 gram’’ means any of the following programs (or any 6 other similar Federal program) to the extent the 7 program offers fixed broadband internet access serv- 8 ice or programs for promoting access to and adop- 9 tion of fixed broadband internet access service for 10 various demographic communities through various 11 media for residential, commercial, or community 12 providers, or academic establishments: 13 (A) The Telecommunications and Tech- 14 nology Program of the Appalachian Regional 15 Commission. 16 (B) The following programs of the Rural 17 Utilities Service of the Department of Agri- 18 culture: 19 (i) The Telecommunications Infra- 20 structure Loan and Loan Guarantee Pro- 21 gram established under the Rural Elec- 22 trification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et 23 seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2816.IS S2816 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2816 IS (ii) Any program to provide grants, 1 loans, or loan guarantees under sections 2 601 through 603 of the Rural Electrifica- 3 tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.). 4 (iii) The substantially underserved 5 trust area initiative under section 306F of 6 the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 7 U.S.C. 936f). 8 (iv) The Community Connect Grant 9 Program established under section 604 of 10 the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 11 U.S.C. 950bb–3). 12 (v) The distance learning and tele- 13 medicine grant program established under 14 chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XXII of the 15 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 16 Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 950aaa et 17 seq.). 18 (C) The following programs of the Eco- 19 nomic Development Administration of the De- 20 partment of Commerce: 21 (i) The Public Works and Economic 22 Adjustment Assistance Programs. 23 (ii) The Planning and Local Technical 24 Assistance Programs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2816.IS S2816 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2816 IS (D) The following programs of the Depart- 1 ment of Housing and Urban Development: 2 (i) The Community Development 3 Block Grant Program under title I of the 4 Housing and Community Development Act 5 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 6 (ii) The loan guarantee program 7 under section 108 of the Housing and 8 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 9 U.S.C. 5308) (commonly known as the 10 ‘‘Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program’’). 11 (iii) Assistance from the Public Hous- 12 ing Capital Fund established under section 13 9(d) of the United States Housing Act of 14 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(d)). 15 (iv) Assistance from the Public Hous- 16 ing Operating Fund established under sec- 17 tion 9(e) of the United States Housing Act 18 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(e)). 19 (v) The Multifamily Housing Pro- 20 grams. 21 (vi) The Indian Community Develop- 22 ment Block Grant Program. 23 (vii) The Indian Housing Block Grant 24 Program under section 101 of the Native 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2816.IS S2816 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2816 IS American Housing Assistance and Self-De- 1 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4111). 2 (viii) Loan guarantees under title VI 3 of the Native American Housing Assist- 4 ance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 5 (25 U.S.C. 4191 et seq.) (commonly known 6 as the ‘‘Title VI Loan Guarantee Pro- 7 gram’’). 8 (ix) The Choice Neighborhoods Initia- 9 tive. 10 (x) The HOME Investment Partner- 11 ships Program authorized under title II of 12 the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 13 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.). 14 (xi) The Housing Trust Fund estab- 15 lished under section 1338 of the Federal 16 Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and 17 Soundness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568). 18 (xii) The Housing Opportunities for 19 Persons With AIDS Program authorized 20 under the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act 21 (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.). 22 (E) The American Job Centers of the Em- 23 ployment and Training Administration of the 24 Department of Labor. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2816.IS S2816 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2816 IS (F) The Library Services and Technology 1 Grant Programs of the Institute of Museum 2 and Library Services. 3 (G) Any program authorized under section 4 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 5 U.S.C. 254) to help deploy fixed broadband 6 internet access service. 7 SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL MINIMUM SPEEDS FOR FEDERALLY 8 SUPPORTED FIXED BROADBAND. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.— 10 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to subsection (c), 11 and notwithstanding any other provision of law, an 12 agency may not provide assistance under a Federal 13 broadband support program unless the fixed broad- 14 band internet access service to be assisted meets or 15 exceeds, or will meet or exceed when deployed, the 16 minimum speeds that were in effect on the date on 17 which the agency made the determination to provide 18 the assistance. 19 (2) MINIMUM SPEEDS.—For purposes of para- 20 graph (1), the term ‘‘minimum speeds’’ means the 21 minimum download and upload speeds for fixed 22 broadband internet access service most recently es- 23 tablished by the Federal Communications Commis- 24 sion in determining for purposes of section 706 of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2816.IS S2816 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2816 IS the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1 1302) whether advanced telecommunications capa- 2 bility is being deployed to all Americans in a reason- 3 able and timely fashion. 4 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 5 Section 601(e) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 6 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(e)) is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘at least—’’ 8 and all that follows through the period at the end 9 of subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘not less than 10 the minimum speeds established under section 3 of 11 the Broadband Parity Act of 2019.’’; and 12 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, subject to 13 the condition that the minimum acceptable level of 14 broadband service, as adjusted under this para- 15 graph, may not be less than the minimum speeds de- 16 scribed in paragraph (1)’’ before the period at the 17 end. 18 (c) PROSPECTIVE APPLICABILITY.—This section and 19 the amendments made by this section— 20 (1) shall apply to any determination of an agen- 21 cy to provide assistance under a Federal broadband 22 support program that is made on or after the date 23 of enactment of this Act; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2816.IS S2816 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2816 IS (2) shall not affect any award of assistance 1 made under a Federal broadband support program 2 before the date of enactment of this Act. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2816.IS S2816 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS