CONNECT at Home Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3695 To institute a moratorium on disconnections of telephone and internet services. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 12, 2020 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To institute a moratorium on disconnections of telephone and internet services. 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 ‘‘Continuing Online 4 Networking, Negating Economic Conditions on Tech- 5 nology at Home Act’’ or the ‘‘CONNECT at Home Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON DISCONNECTION OF TELEPHONE 7 AND INTERNET SERVICES. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3695 IS (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 1 means the Federal Communications Commission. 2 (2) COVID–19 EMERGENCY.—The term 3 ‘‘COVID–19 emergency’’ means the national emer- 4 gency declared by the President under the National 5 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with re- 6 spect to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19). 7 (3) INTERNET SERVICE.—The term ‘‘internet 8 service’’ includes broadband internet access service, 9 as defined in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Fed- 10 eral Regulations (or any successor regulation). 11 (4) LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘low- 12 income individual’’ means an individual with a 13 household income that does not exceed 135 percent 14 of the Federal poverty guidelines issued by the Sec- 15 retary of Health and Human Services. 16 (5) VOICE SERVICE.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘voice serv- 18 ice’’ has the meaning given the term in section 19 227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 20 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)). 21 (B) APPLICABILITY.—During the period 22 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act 23 and ending on the day before the effective date 24 of the amendment made by section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3695 IS 503(a)(2)(C) of division P of the Consolidated 1 Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115– 2 141; 132 Stat. 1091), subparagraph (A) of this 3 paragraph shall be applied as if that amend- 4 ment had already taken effect. 5 (b) MORATORIUM.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 7 during the period beginning on March 13, 2020, and 8 ending on the date that is 180 days after the date 9 on which the COVID–19 emergency terminates, a 10 provider of voice service or internet service may not 11 terminate the provision of that service to a cus- 12 tomer. 13 (2) VIOLATIONS PRIOR TO ENACTMENT.— 14 (A) REINSTATEMENT OF SERVICE.—Any 15 provider of voice service or internet service that 16 terminated the provision of that service to a 17 customer during the period beginning on March 18 13, 2020, and ending on the day before the 19 date of enactment of this Act shall immediately 20 resume providing the service upon the date of 21 enactment of this Act. 22 (B) FINAL DEADLINE.—If a provider of 23 voice service or internet service described in 24 subparagraph (A) does not resume providing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3695 IS service in accordance with that subparagraph 1 by the date that is 14 days after the date of en- 2 actment of this Act, the provider shall be 3 deemed to be in violation of this subsection on 4 and after such 14th day after the date of enact- 5 ment of this Act. 6 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (b) shall not apply to 7 the termination of the provision of voice service or internet 8 service to a customer— 9 (1) at the request of the customer; 10 (2) to protect the network of the provider from 11 abuse; 12 (3) in cooperation with a law enforcement agen- 13 cy to protect life and safety in exigent cir- 14 cumstances; 15 (4) under a valid court order; or 16 (5) in accordance with section 512 of title 17, 17 United States Code. 18 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 19 (1) CIVIL FORFEITURE.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any person that is de- 21 termined by the Commission, in accordance 22 with paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 503(b) 23 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 24 503(b)), to have violated subsection (b) of this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3695 IS section shall be liable to the United States for 1 a forfeiture penalty. The amount of the for- 2 feiture penalty determined under this para- 3 graph shall not exceed $100 for each day of the 4 violation, except that the amount assessed shall 5 not exceed a total of $1,000,000 for the termi- 6 nation of the provision of service to a single 7 customer. 8 (B) RECOVERY.—Any forfeiture penalty 9 determined under subparagraph (A) shall be re- 10 coverable in accordance with section 504(a) of 11 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 12 504(a)). 13 (C) PROCEDURE.—No forfeiture liability 14 shall be determined under subparagraph (A) 15 against any person unless the person receives 16 the notice required under paragraph (3) or (4) 17 of section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 18 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503(b)). 19 (D) 2-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 20 No forfeiture penalty shall be determined or im- 21 posed against any person under subparagraph 22 (A) if the violation charged occurred more than 23 2 years prior to the date of issuance of the re- 24 quired notice or notice or apparent liability. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3695 IS (E) USE OF FORFEITURE AMOUNTS.—Not- 1 withstanding section 504(a) of the Communica- 2 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 504(a)), the Com- 3 mission shall use the proceeds of any forfeiture 4 penalty collected under this paragraph to pro- 5 vide assistance to low-income individuals who 6 lack access to affordable broadband service due 7 to the COVID–19 emergency. 8 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—A person may, if other- 10 wise permitted by the laws or rules of court of 11 a State, bring in an appropriate court of that 12 State— 13 (i) an action based on a violation of 14 subsection (b) to enjoin the violation; 15 (ii) an action to recover for actual 16 monetary loss from a violation of sub- 17 section (b); or 18 (iii) both such actions. 19 (B) WILLFUL OR KNOWING VIOLATION.— 20 If the court finds that the defendant willfully or 21 knowingly violated subsection (b), the court 22 may, in its discretion— 23 (i) increase the amount of the award 24 to an amount equal to not more than 3 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3695 IS times the amount that would otherwise be 1 available under subparagraph (A)(ii); and 2 (ii) award the plaintiff reasonable at- 3 torney’s fees and costs. 4 (C) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION NOT 5 WAIVABLE.—Notwithstanding chapter 1 of title 6 9, United States Code (commonly known as the 7 ‘‘Federal Arbitration Act’’), or any other provi- 8 sion of law, a person may not waive the right 9 to bring an action under this paragraph except 10 as part of a settlement or resolution of a claim, 11 class action, or enforcement action for an al- 12 leged violation of subsection (b) of this section. 13 (3) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The chief legal officer 15 of a State, or any other State officer authorized 16 by law to bring actions on behalf of the resi- 17 dents of a State, may bring a civil action, as 18 parens patriae, on behalf of the residents of 19 that State in an appropriate district court of 20 the United States to enforce subsection (b) or 21 to impose the civil penalties for violation of sub- 22 section (b), whenever the chief legal officer or 23 other State officer has reason to believe that 24 the interests of the residents of the State have 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3695 IS been or are being threatened or adversely af- 1 fected by a violation of subsection (b). 2 (B) NOTICE.—The chief legal officer or 3 other State officer shall serve written notice on 4 the Commission of any civil action under sub- 5 paragraph (A) prior to initiating the civil ac- 6 tion. The notice shall include a copy of the com- 7 plaint to be filed to initiate the civil action, ex- 8 cept that if it is not feasible for the State to 9 provide such prior notice, the State shall pro- 10 vide the notice immediately upon instituting the 11 civil action. 12 (C) AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE.—Upon 13 receiving the notice required under subpara- 14 graph (B), the Commission may— 15 (i) intervene in the action; 16 (ii) upon so intervening, be heard on 17 all matters arising therein; and 18 (iii) file petitions for appeal. 19 (D) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 20 bringing any civil action under subparagraph 21 (A), nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the 22 chief legal officer or other State officer from ex- 23 ercising the powers conferred on that officer by 24 the laws of the State to conduct investigations 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3695 IS or to administer oaths or affirmations or to 1 compel the attendance of witnesses or the pro- 2 duction of documentary and other evidence. 3 (E) VENUE; SERVICE OR PROCESS.— 4 (i) VENUE.—An action brought under 5 subparagraph (A) shall be brought in a 6 district court of the United States that 7 meets applicable requirements relating to 8 venue under section 1391 of title 28, 9 United States Code. 10 (ii) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an ac- 11 tion brought under subparagraph (A)— 12 (I) process may be served with- 13 out regard to the territorial limits of 14 the district or of the State in which 15 the action is instituted; and 16 (II) a person who participated in 17 an alleged violation that is being liti- 18 gated in the civil action may be joined 19 in the civil action without regard to 20 the residence of the person. 21 (e) NO WAIVER OR FORBEARANCE.—Notwith- 22 standing any other provision of law, including the Commu- 23 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), the Com- 24 mission may not— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3695 IS (1) waive the application of this section to any 1 person; 2 (2) forbear from applying this section; 3 (3) prevent or hinder any person from exer- 4 cising the private right of action under subsection 5 (d)(2); or 6 (4) prevent or hinder an officer of a State from 7 carrying out subsection (d)(3). 8 (f) PREEMPTION.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall supersede 10 any law of a State to the extent that the law directly 11 conflicts with this section. 12 (2) FLOOR.—A law of a State shall not be con- 13 sidered to be in direct conflict with this section if the 14 law affords a greater level of protection to customers 15 protected under this section. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 May 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3695.IS S3695 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS