Closing the Digital Divide for Students Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6534 To include reasonable costs for high-speed internet service in the utility allowances for families residing in public housing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 17, 2020 Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SE- WELL of Alabama, Mr. RUSH, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. NEGUSE, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HECK, Ms. DEAN, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. GREEN of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Serv- ices A BILL To include reasonable costs for high-speed internet service in the utility allowances for families residing in public housing, 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 ‘‘Closing the Digital 4 Divide for Students Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Apr 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6534.IH H6534 SSpencer on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6534 IH SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF HIGH-SPEED INTERNET SERVICE IN 1 PUBLIC HOUSING UTILITY ALLOWANCES FOR 2 CERTAIN FAMILIES. 3 Subsection (b) of section 3 of the United States 4 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)) is amended 5 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(14) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—A utility allow- 7 ance under this Act for public housing shall include 8 costs for high-speed internet service, including the 9 cost of renting or purchasing equipment necessary to 10 access such service and a one-time installation fee, 11 subject to the following limitations: 12 ‘‘(A) COST.—The cost included in a utility 13 allowance for a public housing dwelling unit 14 pursuant to this paragraph for monthly internet 15 service shall not— 16 ‘‘(i) exceed the lowest cost available in 17 the area of such housing for such monthly 18 high-speed internet service; and 19 ‘‘(ii) include any costs for cable or 20 satellite television service or telephone serv- 21 ice. 22 ‘‘(B) FAMILY CHOICE.—Subparagraph (A) 23 may not be construed to prohibit a household in 24 public housing from subscribing to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Apr 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6534.IH H6534 SSpencer on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6534 IH ‘‘(i) a high-speed internet service the 1 cost of which exceeds the cost described in 2 subparagraph (A)(i); or 3 ‘‘(ii) any joint package for internet 4 service together with cable or satellite tele- 5 vision service or telephone service, or both. 6 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED FAMILIES.—Costs for 7 high-speed internet service may be included in 8 a utility allowance only for a household that in- 9 curs such costs and includes children who qual- 10 ify for free and reduced price lunch pursuant to 11 section 9 of the Richard B. Russell National 12 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758). 13 ‘‘(D) PROTECTION OF MINORS.—Costs for 14 high-speed internet service may be included in 15 a utility allowance for a household only if the 16 internet service provider, upon initial provision 17 of such service for a household, provides the 18 household with a specific technology capable of 19 blocking or filtering internet access to visual de- 20 pictions described in section 254(h)(5)(B)(i) of 21 the Communications Act of 1937 (47 U.S.C. 22 254(h)(5)(B)(i)) that provides a level of protec- 23 tion against access by minors to such depictions 24 through the internet that is at least as great as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Apr 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6534.IH H6534 SSpencer on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6534 IH the level of protection provided by a technology 1 protection measure (as such term is defined in 2 paragraph (7) of such section 254(h)) that 3 meets the requirements for certification under 4 such paragraph, as determined by the Sec- 5 retary.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Apr 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6534.IH H6534 SSpencer on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS