Homework Gap Trust Fund Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3362 To require the Federal Communications Commission to use a portion of the proceeds from the auction of the C-band to fund measures to provide students with access to the internet at home, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 27, 2020 Mr. VAN HOLLEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Federal Communications Commission to use a portion of the proceeds from the auction of the C- band to fund measures to provide students with access to the internet at home, 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 ‘‘Homework Gap Trust 4 Fund Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3362.IS S3362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3362 IS (1) According to the Joint Economic Com- 1 mittee, as many as 12,000,000 students in the 2 United States do not have access to the internet at 3 home. 4 (2) Lack of internet access at home for a stu- 5 dent can lead to reduced academic preparedness, de- 6 creased academic performance, and decreased class- 7 room engagement in school. 8 (3) Nearly 50 percent of students in the United 9 States have reported being unable to complete a 10 homework assignment because those students did 11 not have access to the internet or a computer. 12 (4) Seventeen percent of students in the United 13 States do not have access to computers at home and 14 18 percent do not have home access to broadband 15 internet access service. 16 (5) Computer ownership and internet use are 17 strongly correlated with household income. 18 (6) Approximately 30 percent of households in 19 the United States with incomes below $50,000 do 20 not have a connection to broadband internet access 21 service. 22 (7) Students without broadband internet access 23 service at home are more likely to be students from 24 low-income families, students of color, or students 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3362.IS S3362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3362 IS who live in households with lower levels of parental 1 education. 2 (8) More than 50 percent of teachers in low-in- 3 come school districts report that limited access to 4 technology outside of school for students limits the 5 ability of teachers to— 6 (A) advance and implement digital learning 7 initiatives; and 8 (B) promote digital literacy. 9 (9) According to the Commission, approxi- 10 mately 70 percent of teachers in the United States 11 assign homework that requires access to broadband 12 internet access service. 13 (10) Research has shown that teenagers who 14 have access to home computers are 6 to 8 percent 15 more likely to graduate from high school than teen- 16 agers who do not have access to home computers. 17 (11) The homework gap affects students in 18 both rural and urban communities. 19 (12) Ensuring that students have access to 20 broadband internet access service will reduce the 21 digital divide and can help reduce economic, edu- 22 cational, and social inequalities. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3362.IS S3362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3362 IS SEC. 3. HOMEWORK GAP TRUST FUND. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.—There is estab- 2 lished in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be 3 known as the ‘‘Homework Gap Trust Fund’’— 4 (1) which shall be administered by the Commis- 5 sion; and 6 (2) the purpose of which is to provide funding 7 for measures that help to— 8 (A) close the digital divide; and 9 (B) promote digital equality with respect 10 to school-aged children. 11 (b) DEPOSIT OF PROCEEDS.—Notwithstanding any 12 provision of section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 13 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)), not less than $2,000,000,000 14 and not more than $4,000,000,000 of the proceeds re- 15 ceived from systems of competitive bidding conducted with 16 respect to the use of the C-band shall be deposited in the 17 Homework Gap Trust Fund. 18 (c) USE OF HOMEWORK GAP TRUST FUND 19 AMOUNTS.—The Commission shall use the amounts in the 20 Homework Gap Trust Fund to fund measures that seek 21 to ensure that all students in the United States have ac- 22 cess to broadband internet access service at home, includ- 23 ing by— 24 (1) purchasing any necessary equipment for 25 that purpose; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3362.IS S3362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3362 IS (2) providing those students with hotspot de- 1 vices. 2 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 3 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 4 Commission shall submit to Congress a report regarding, 5 for the year covered by the report— 6 (1) the number of recipients of funding pro- 7 vided under subsection (c); 8 (2) the number of students who obtained access 9 to broadband internet access service as a result of 10 funding provided under subsection (c); 11 (3) the number of students in the United States 12 who continue to face unequal access to digital de- 13 vices and broadband internet access service, which 14 prevents those students from completing homework 15 assignments; 16 (4) the use of hotspot devices provided with 17 funding provided under subsection (c); and 18 (5) the amount of data used per hotspot device 19 described in paragraph (4). 20 (e) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 21 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue 22 final rules to carry out this section. 23 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 24 In this Act: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3362.IS S3362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3362 IS (1) C-BAND.—The term ‘‘C-band’’ means the 1 band of electromagnetic spectrum between 3.7 2 gigahertz and 4.2 gigahertz, inclusive. 3 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 4 means the Federal Communications Commission. 5 (3) DIGITAL DIVIDE.—The term ‘‘digital di- 6 vide’’ means the economic, educational, and social 7 inequalities that exist between individuals, house- 8 holds, businesses, and geographic areas at different 9 socioeconomic levels due to their differing abilities to 10 access information and communications technology. 11 (4) DIGITAL EQUALITY.—The term ‘‘digital 12 equality’’ means the activities that are necessary to 13 ensure that, as a means to enhance and promote 14 education, employment, and civic and cultural par- 15 ticipation, all individuals in the United States have 16 access to, and the use of, affordable information and 17 communication technologies, including— 18 (A) reliable fixed and wireless broadband 19 internet access service; 20 (B) internet-enabled devices that meet the 21 needs of the user; and 22 (C) applications and online content de- 23 signed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, 24 participation, and collaboration, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3362.IS S3362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3362 IS (i) obtaining access to digital literacy 1 training; 2 (ii) the provision of quality technical 3 support; and 4 (iii) obtaining basic awareness of 5 measures to ensure online privacy and cy- 6 bersecurity. 7 (5) DIGITAL LITERACY.—The term ‘‘digital lit- 8 eracy’’ means the ability of an individual to use cog- 9 nitive and technical skills and technology to effec- 10 tively find, analyze, organize, share, create, and com- 11 municate information using digital platforms. 12 (6) HOTSPOT DEVICE.—The term ‘‘hotspot de- 13 vice’’ means a portable device— 14 (A) that connects to broadband internet 15 access service using a cellular data connection; 16 (B) to which other devices wirelessly con- 17 nect by means of Wi-Fi; and 18 (C) that enables the devices described in 19 subparagraph (B) to connect to the broadband 20 internet access service described in subpara- 21 graph (A). 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3362.IS S3362 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS