Computer and Internet Equity Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6744 To provide tax credits to low to moderate income individuals for certain computer and education costs, to direct the Federal Communications Commission to modify the requirements for the Lifeline program to provide increased support for broadband internet access service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2020 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide tax credits to low to moderate income individuals for certain computer and education costs, to direct the Federal Communications Commission to modify the re- quirements for the Lifeline program to provide increased support for broadband internet access service, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6744.IH H6744 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6744 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Computer and Internet 2 Equity Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. INCREASED LIFELINE SUPPORT FOR BROADBAND 4 INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days after the 6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 7 promulgate regulations to modify the requirements for the 8 Lifeline program set forth in subpart E of part 54 of title 9 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date 10 of the enactment of this Act) to provide for the following: 11 (1) The amount of Lifeline support that a pro- 12 vider of Lifeline service may receive for providing 13 such service to each qualifying low-income consumer 14 shall be increased by $1,000 per year. 15 (2) The percentage of the Federal Poverty 16 Guidelines (as specified in section 54.409(a) of title 17 47, Code of Federal Regulations) at or below which 18 a consumer’s household income must be in order for 19 the consumer to constitute a qualifying low-income 20 consumer on the basis of income shall be increased 21 to 435 percent. 22 (3) A provider of broadband internet access 23 service shall not be required to be designated as an 24 eligible telecommunications carrier under section 25 214(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6744.IH H6744 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6744 IH U.S.C. 214(e)) in order to receive Lifeline support 1 for providing such service to a qualifying low-income 2 consumer. 3 (b) LIMITATION.—The modifications made by the 4 regulations promulgated under subsection (a) shall only 5 apply with respect to Lifeline support that is applied to 6 the cost of a broadband internet access service plan (or, 7 in the case of a service plan that includes other services 8 in a bundle with broadband internet access service, to the 9 portion of the cost of such plan that is attributable to 10 broadband internet access service). 11 (c) DURATION.—The modifications made by the reg- 12 ulations promulgated under subsection (a) shall cease to 13 have any force or effect on the date that is 12 years after 14 the date on which such regulations are promulgated. 15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 17 means the Federal Communications Commission. 18 (2) TERMS DEFINED IN REGULATIONS.—The 19 terms defined in section 54.400 of title 47, Code of 20 Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), 21 have the meanings given such terms in such section. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6744.IH H6744 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6744 IH SEC. 3. INTERNET SAFETY EDUCATION OR TRAINING 1 GRANT PROGRAM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 100 days after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 4 establish a program to make grants on a competitive basis 5 to eligible entities to develop and carry out an internet 6 safety education or training programs. 7 (b) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity that wishes to 8 receive a grant under this section shall submit to the Com- 9 mission an application at such time, in such manner, and 10 containing such information as the Commission may re- 11 quire. 12 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 13 a grant under this section shall use grant funds to— 14 (1) develop a program to provide internet safety 15 education or training, which may address cyberbully- 16 ing, to individuals living in households with an in- 17 come at or below 435 percent of the Federal Poverty 18 Guidelines for households of the applicable size; and 19 (2) provide such education or training to such 20 individuals through such program. 21 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 23 means the Federal Communications Commission. 24 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 25 ty’’ means— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6744.IH H6744 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6744 IH (A) a nonprofit organization; 1 (B) a not-for-profit social welfare organiza- 2 tion; 3 (C) a community-based organization; or 4 (D) a local public safety organization. 5 (3) FEDERAL POVERTY GUIDELINES.—The 6 term ‘‘Federal Poverty Guidelines’’ means the Fed- 7 eral Poverty Guidelines used for purposes of section 8 54.409(a)(1) of title 47, Code of Federal Regula- 9 tions (or any successor regulation). 10 (4) HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘household’’ has 11 the meaning given such term in section 54.400 of 12 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc- 13 cessor regulation). 14 (5) INCOME.—The term ‘‘income’’ has the 15 meaning given such term in section 54.400 of title 16 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 17 regulation). 18 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 19 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de- 20 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 21 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 22 501(a) of such code. 23 (7) NOT-FOR-PROFIT SOCIAL WELFARE ORGANI- 24 ZATION.—The term ‘‘not-for-profit social welfare or- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6744.IH H6744 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6744 IH ganization’’ means an organization described in sec- 1 tion 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 2 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such 3 code. 4 SEC. 4. CREDIT FOR COMPUTER AND EDUCATION COSTS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub- 6 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 7 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B the fol- 8 lowing new section: 9 ‘‘SEC. 36C. CREDIT FOR COMPUTER AND EDUCATION 10 COSTS. 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible indi- 12 vidual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 13 imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year an amount 14 equal to such so much of the individual’s qualified com- 15 puter and education costs paid or incurred by the taxpayer 16 during the taxable year as does not exceed $2,000. 17 ‘‘(b) LIFETIME LIMITATION.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The credit allowed under 19 subsection (a) with respect to each eligible individual 20 shall not exceed $10,000 per individual. 21 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR DEPENDENTS.—In the 22 case of a taxpayer who is claiming a portion of the 23 lifetime limitation of a dependent who is an eligible 24 individual, the credit allowed under subsection (a) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6744.IH H6744 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6744 IH with respect to each dependent may not exceed 1 $2,000 of the lifetime limitation of such dependent. 2 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED COMPUTER AND EDUCATION 3 COSTS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified 4 computer and education costs’ means amounts paid or in- 5 curred for— 6 ‘‘(1) computers, printers, other education-re- 7 lated technology, and 8 ‘‘(2) education from an accredited academic in- 9 stitution, an organization described in section 10 501(c)(3) and exempt from tax under section 11 501(a), or an organization described in section 12 501(c)(4) on how to use such computers, printers, 13 and technology. 14 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS IN- 15 COME.—The amount of the credit allowed by subsection 16 (a) (determined without regard to this subsection) shall 17 be reduced by 5 percent of so much of the taxpayer’s ad- 18 justed gross income as exceeds— 19 ‘‘(1) $150,000 in the case of a joint return, 20 ‘‘(2) $112,500, or 21 ‘‘(3) $75,000 in the case of a taxpayer not de- 22 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2). 23 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible indi- 24 vidual’ means any individual other than— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6744.IH H6744 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6744 IH ‘‘(1) any nonresident alien individual, 1 ‘‘(2) any individual with respect to whom a de- 2 duction under section 151 is allowable to another 3 taxpayer for a taxable year beginning in the cal- 4 endar year in which the individual’s taxable year be- 5 gins, and 6 ‘‘(3) an estate or trust. 7 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall 8 only apply to qualified computer and education costs in- 9 curred by the taxpayer after December 31, 2019, and be- 10 fore January 1, 2032.’’. 11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 12 (1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 13 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 14 ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 15 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 16 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev- 17 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 18 item relating to section 36B the following new item: 19 ‘‘Sec. 36C. Credit for computer and education costs.’’. (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 21 December 31, 2019. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6744.IH H6744 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS