Emergency Broadband Connections Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4095 To provide emergency benefits for broadband service during periods relating to COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 29, 2020 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BROWN, Ms. HAR- RIS, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BENNET, Ms. ROSEN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. UDALL, Mr. REED, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. HEINRICH, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To provide emergency benefits for broadband service during periods relating to COVID–19, 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 ‘‘Emergency Broadband 4 Connections Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4095 IS (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 1 means the Federal Communications Commission. 2 (2) EMERGENCY PERIOD DEFINED.—The term 3 ‘‘emergency period’’ means a period that— 4 (A) begins on the date of a determination 5 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 6 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 7 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) that a public 8 health emergency exists as a result of COVID– 9 19; and 10 (B) ends on the date that is 6 months 11 after the date on which such determination (in- 12 cluding any renewal thereof) terminates, except 13 that— 14 (i) for purposes of section 3, such pe- 15 riod may be extended under section 16 3(c)(4); and 17 (ii) for purposes of section 4, such pe- 18 riod may be extended under section 4(b). 19 (3) NATIONAL LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY 20 VERIFIER.—The term ‘‘National Lifeline Eligibility 21 Verifier’’ has the meaning given such term in section 22 54.400 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or 23 any successor regulation). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4095 IS (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 1 ing given such term in section 3 of the Communica- 2 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 3 SEC. 3. BENEFIT FOR BROADBAND SERVICE DURING EMER- 4 GENCY PERIODS RELATING TO COVID–19. 5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 7 The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ has 8 the meaning given such term in section 8.1(b) of 9 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc- 10 cessor regulation). 11 (2) CONNECTED DEVICE.—The term ‘‘con- 12 nected device’’ means a laptop or desktop computer 13 or a tablet. 14 (3) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘eligible 15 household’’ means, regardless of whether the house- 16 hold or any member of the household receives sup- 17 port under subpart E of part 54 of title 47, Code 18 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation), 19 and regardless of whether any member of the house- 20 hold has any past or present arrearages with a pro- 21 vider, a household in which— 22 (A) at least one member of the household 23 meets the qualifications in subsection (a) or (b) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4095 IS of section 54.409 of title 47, Code of Federal 1 Regulations (or any successor regulation); 2 (B) at least one member of the household 3 has applied for and been approved to receive 4 benefits under the free and reduced price lunch 5 program under the Richard B. Russell National 6 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or 7 the school breakfast program under section 4 of 8 the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 9 1773); 10 (C) not less than 1 member of the house- 11 hold has experienced a substantial loss of in- 12 come since February 29, 2020, documented by 13 layoff or furlough notice, application for unem- 14 ployment insurance benefits, or similar docu- 15 mentation; or 16 (D) not less than 1 member of the house- 17 hold received a Federal Pell Grant under sec- 18 tion 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 19 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) for the 2019–2020 or 2020– 20 2021 award year. 21 (4) EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFIT.—The 22 term ‘‘emergency broadband benefit’’ means a 23 monthly discount for an eligible household applied to 24 the normal rate or special rate for an internet serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4095 IS ice offering, in an amount equal to such rate, but 1 not more than $50, or, if an internet service offering 2 is provided to an eligible household on Tribal land, 3 not more than $75. 4 (5) INTERNET SERVICE OFFERING.—The term 5 ‘‘internet service offering’’ means— 6 (A) with respect to a provider that is pro- 7 viding broadband internet access service before 8 the date of enactment of this Act, broadband 9 internet access service provided by such pro- 10 vider to a household, offered in the same man- 11 ner, and on the same or better terms, as de- 12 scribed in any of such provider’s advertisements 13 for broadband internet access service to such 14 household, as of May 1, 2020; and 15 (B) with respect to a provider that begins 16 providing broadband internet access service 17 after the date of enactment of this Act, 18 broadband internet access service provided by 19 such provider to a household, offered in the 20 same manner, and on the same or better terms, 21 as described in any of such provider’s advertise- 22 ments for broadband internet access service to 23 such household, that are comparable to the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4095 IS terms of other providers for such service as of 1 May 1, 2020. 2 (6) NORMAL RATE.—The term ‘‘normal rate’’— 3 (A) means, with respect to an internet 4 service offering by a provider, the advertised 5 monthly retail rate, as of May 1, 2020, includ- 6 ing any applicable promotions or offers, includ- 7 ing free or reduced installation fees and exclud- 8 ing any taxes or other governmental fees, or 9 better; and 10 (B) includes, with respect to an internet 11 service offering by a provider, any service offer- 12 ing that the provider makes available only to 13 low-income households. 14 (7) PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘provider’’ means a 15 provider of broadband internet access service. 16 (8) SPECIAL RATE.—The term ‘‘special rate’’ 17 means the monthly retail rate for an internet service 18 offering that has a monthly retail rate or installation 19 fee that is lower than the normal rate for the same 20 speed or offers a higher broadband speed for the 21 same rate as the normal rate, which may be re- 22 stricted to recipients of the emergency broadband 23 benefit. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4095 IS (b) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS REQUIRED.— 1 Not later than 7 days after the date of enactment of this 2 Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations imple- 3 menting this section. 4 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations promulgated 5 pursuant to subsection (b) shall establish the following: 6 (1) EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFIT.—Dur- 7 ing an emergency period, a provider shall— 8 (A) provide an eligible household with an 9 internet service offering, upon request by a 10 member of such household; and 11 (B) discount the price charged to a house- 12 hold described in subparagraph (A) for the 13 internet service offering in an amount equal to 14 the emergency broadband benefit for such 15 household. 16 (2) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—To verify 17 whether a household is an eligible household, a pro- 18 vider shall— 19 (A) use the National Lifeline Eligibility 20 Verifier; 21 (B) rely upon an alternative verification 22 process of the provider, if the Commission finds 23 such process to be sufficient to avoid waste, 24 fraud, and abuse; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4095 IS (C) rely on a school to verify the eligibility 1 of a household based on the participation of the 2 household in the national school lunch program 3 described in subsection (a)(3)(B). 4 (3) USE OF NATIONAL LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY 5 VERIFIER.—The Commission shall— 6 (A) expedite the ability of all providers to 7 access the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier 8 for purposes of determining whether a house- 9 hold is an eligible household; and 10 (B) ensure that the National Lifeline Eligi- 11 bility Verifier approves an eligible household to 12 receive the emergency broadband benefit not 13 later than two days after the date of the sub- 14 mission of information necessary to determine if 15 the household is an eligible household. 16 (4) EXTENSION OF EMERGENCY PERIOD.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—An emergency period 18 may be extended within a State or any portion 19 thereof if the State, or in the case of Tribal 20 land, a Tribal government, provides written, 21 public notice to the Commission stipulating that 22 an extension is necessary in furtherance of the 23 recovery related to COVID–19. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4095 IS (B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 48 1 hours after the Commission receives notice 2 under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall 3 post the notice on the public website of the 4 Commission. 5 (5) REIMBURSEMENT.—From the Emergency 6 Broadband Connectivity Fund established under 7 subsection (i), the Commission shall reimburse a 8 provider in an amount equal to the emergency 9 broadband benefit with respect to an eligible house- 10 hold that receives such benefit from such provider. 11 (6) REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONNECTED DE- 12 VICE.—A provider that, in addition to providing the 13 emergency broadband benefit to an eligible house- 14 hold, supplies such household with a connected de- 15 vice may be reimbursed up to $100 from the Emer- 16 gency Broadband Connectivity Fund established in 17 subsection (i) for such connected device, if the 18 charge to such eligible household is more than $10 19 but less than $50 for such connected device, except 20 that a provider may receive reimbursement for no 21 more than one connected device per eligible house- 22 hold. 23 (7) NO RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT.—A 24 provider may not receive a reimbursement from the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4095 IS Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund for pro- 1 viding an internet service offering discounted by the 2 emergency broadband benefit, or for supplying a 3 connected device, that was provided or supplied (as 4 the case may be) before the date of the enactment 5 of this Act. 6 (8) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—To receive a 7 reimbursement under paragraph (5) or (6), a pro- 8 vider shall certify to the Commission the following: 9 (A) That the amount for which the pro- 10 vider is seeking reimbursement from the Emer- 11 gency Broadband Connectivity Fund for an 12 internet service offering or connected device to 13 an eligible household is not more than the nor- 14 mal rate or special rate. 15 (B) That each eligible household for which 16 a provider is seeking reimbursement for pro- 17 viding an internet service offering or connected 18 device discounted by the emergency broadband 19 benefit— 20 (i) has not been and will not be 21 charged— 22 (I) for such offering, if the nor- 23 mal rate or special rate for such offer- 24 ing is not more than $50, or, if an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4095 IS internet service offering is provided to 1 an eligible household on Tribal land, 2 not more than $75; or 3 (II) more for such offering than 4 the difference between the normal rate 5 or special rate for such offering and 6 the amount of the emergency 7 broadband benefit for such household; 8 (ii) will not be required to pay an 9 early termination fee if such eligible house- 10 hold elects to enter into a contract to re- 11 ceive such internet service offering if such 12 household later terminates such contract; 13 (iii)(I) will not be denied such internet 14 service offering or connected device based 15 on consideration of a credit report or cred- 16 it score; and 17 (II) in the case of an eligible house- 18 hold that would traditionally be determined 19 ineligible based on consideration of a credit 20 report or credit score, is provided access 21 to— 22 (aa) the best plan for internet 23 service offered by the provider with 24 speeds not less than 25 Mbps down- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4095 IS stream and 3Mbps upstream, if the 1 rate for such offering is less than $50; 2 or 3 (bb) if a plan described in item 4 (aa) is not available for less than $50, 5 the lowest priced internet service of- 6 fering of the provider with speeds not 7 less than 25 Mbps downstream and 8 3Mbps upstream; 9 (iv) was not subject to a mandatory 10 waiting period for such internet service of- 11 fering or connected device based on having 12 previously received broadband internet ac- 13 cess service from such provider; and 14 (v) has attested that the household 15 has not previously received a connected de- 16 vice under this provision from another pro- 17 vider. 18 (C) A description of the process used by 19 the provider to verify that a household is an eli- 20 gible household, if the provider elects an alter- 21 native verification process under paragraph 22 (2)(B), and that such verification process was 23 designed to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4095.IS S4095 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4095 IS (9) AU [Text truncated for display. 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