Community Broadband Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3649 To promote competition, to preserve the ability of local governments to provide broadband capability and services, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 7, 2020 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. KING, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SANDERS, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Com- merce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To promote competition, to preserve the ability of local gov- ernments to provide broadband capability and services, 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 ‘‘Community Broadband 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘advanced telecommunications ca- 8 pability’’ has the meaning given the term in section 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3649.IS S3649 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3649 IS 706(d) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 1 U.S.C. 1302(d)); 2 (2) the term ‘‘advanced telecommunications ca- 3 pability or services’’ means— 4 (A) advanced telecommunications capa- 5 bility; or 6 (B) services using advanced telecommuni- 7 cations capability; 8 (3) the term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ has the meaning 9 given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in section 4 of the In- 10 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 11 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); 12 (4) the term ‘‘public provider’’ means— 13 (A) a State or political subdivision thereof; 14 (B) any agency, authority, or instrumen- 15 tality of a State or political subdivision thereof; 16 (C) an Indian Tribe; or 17 (D) any entity that is owned by, controlled 18 by, or otherwise affiliated with— 19 (i) a State or political subdivision 20 thereof; 21 (ii) an agency, authority, or instru- 22 mentality of a State or political subdivision 23 thereof; or 24 (iii) an Indian Tribe; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3649.IS S3649 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3649 IS (5) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 1 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 2 of Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession 3 of the United States; and 4 (6) the term ‘‘telecommunications service’’ has 5 the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Com- 6 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 7 SEC. 3. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF TELE- 8 COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AND AD- 9 VANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY 10 AND SERVICES. 11 No statute, regulation, or other legal requirement of 12 a State, a political subdivision thereof, or an Indian Tribe 13 may prohibit, or have the effect of prohibiting or substan- 14 tially inhibiting, any public provider from providing tele- 15 communications services or advanced telecommunications 16 capability or services to any person or any public or pri- 17 vate entity. 18 SEC. 4. SAFEGUARDS. 19 (a) ADMINISTRATION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent any public 21 provider regulates competing providers of tele- 22 communications services or advanced telecommuni- 23 cations capability or services, the public provider 24 shall apply its ordinances, rules, and policies, includ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3649.IS S3649 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3649 IS ing those relating to the use of public rights-of-way, 1 permitting, performance bonding, and reporting, 2 without discrimination in favor of— 3 (A) the public provider; or 4 (B) any other provider of telecommuni- 5 cations services or advanced telecommunications 6 capability or services that the public provider 7 owns or with which the public provider is affili- 8 ated. 9 (2) EXEMPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 10 apply— 11 (A) when a public provider provides tele- 12 communications services or advanced tele- 13 communications capability or services other 14 than— 15 (i) to the public; or 16 (ii) to such classes of users as to 17 make the capability or services effectively 18 available to the public; or 19 (B) during an emergency declared by the 20 President, the Governor of the State in which 21 the public provider is located, or any other 22 elected local official authorized by law to de- 23 clare a state of emergency in the jurisdiction in 24 which the public provider is located. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3649.IS S3649 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3649 IS (b) APPLICATION OF GENERAL LAWS.—Nothing in 1 this Act shall be construed to exempt a public provider 2 that offers telecommunications services or advanced tele- 3 communications capability or services to the public from 4 any Federal communications law or regulation that applies 5 to all providers of telecommunications services or ad- 6 vanced telecommunications capability or services to the 7 public. 8 SEC. 5. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ENCOURAGED. 9 It is the sense of Congress that a public provider that 10 intends to provide telecommunications services or ad- 11 vanced telecommunications capability or services to the 12 public should consider the potential benefits of a public- 13 private partnership before providing the capability or serv- 14 ices. 15 SEC. 6. USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS. 16 If any project providing telecommunications services 17 or advanced telecommunications capability or services 18 under this Act fails due to bankruptcy or is terminated 19 by a public provider, no Federal funds may be provided 20 to the public provider specifically to assist the public pro- 21 vider in reviving or renewing that project, unless the fail- 22 ure due to bankruptcy occurred in a jurisdiction that is 23 subject to a declaration by the President of a major dis- 24 aster, as defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3649.IS S3649 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3649 IS Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 1 5122). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3649.IS S3649 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS