To help small business broadband providers keep customers connected.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6394 To help small business broadband providers keep customers connected. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 25, 2020 Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. GIANFORTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ap- propriations A BILL To help small business broadband providers keep customers connected. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. KEEPING CRITICAL CONNECTIONS EMER- 3 GENCY FUND. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 5 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 6 Communications Commission; 7 (2) the term ‘‘covered program’’ means a pro- 8 gram established by a small business broadband pro- 9 vider under which the small business broadband pro- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6394.IH H6394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6394 IH vider, at any time during the COVID–19 emergency 1 period, voluntarily— 2 (A) provides a customer with free or dis- 3 counted broadband service, or free upgrades of 4 existing service to meet certain capacity and 5 speed needs, due specifically to the presence of 6 a student in the household of the customer who 7 needs distance learning capability; or 8 (B) refrains from disconnecting broadband 9 service provided to an existing customer due to 10 nonpayment or underpayment if the customer— 11 (i) has a household income, at the 12 time of the nonpayment or underpayment, 13 that does not exceed 135 percent of the 14 Federal poverty guidelines (as determined 15 by the Secretary of Health and Human 16 Services); 17 (ii) is unable to make a full payment 18 due specifically to the economic impact of 19 the national emergency described in para- 20 graph (3); and 21 (iii) provides sufficient documentation 22 to the provider to show that the customer 23 meets the criteria under clauses (i) and 24 (ii); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6394.IH H6394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6394 IH (3) the term ‘‘COVID–19 emergency period’’ 1 means the period during which the national emer- 2 gency declaration by the President under the Na- 3 tional Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 4 with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 5 (COVID-19) is in effect; and 6 (4) the term ‘‘small business broadband pro- 7 vider’’ means a broadband provider that provides 8 broadband service to fewer than 250,000 customers. 9 (b) FUNDING.— 10 (1) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any funds in the 11 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is appro- 12 priated to the Commission $2,000,000,000 for fiscal 13 year 2020, to remain available until expended, to re- 14 imburse small business broadband providers for the 15 costs of carrying out a covered program. 16 (2) RULES.—The Commission shall promulgate 17 rules on an expedited basis, and without regard to 18 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, regarding 19 the provision of reimbursements to small business 20 broadband providers under paragraph (1). 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6394.IH H6394 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS