BRIDGE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4113 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide grants to States and Indian Tribes to deploy affordable, high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved areas. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 30, 2020 Mr. BENNET introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide grants to States and Indian Tribes to deploy affordable, high- speed broadband to unserved and underserved areas. 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 ‘‘Broadband Reform 4 and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy Act of 5 2020’’ or ‘‘BRIDGE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4113 IS (1) Access to affordable, reliable broadband is 1 essential to full participation in modern life in the 2 United States. 3 (2) The persistent ‘‘digital divide’’ in the 4 United States is a barrier to the economic competi- 5 tiveness of the United States and equitable distribu- 6 tion of essential public services, including health care 7 and education. 8 (3) In many communities across the country, 9 increased competition among broadband providers 10 has the potential to offer consumers more afford- 11 able, high-quality options for broadband service. 12 (4) The digital divide disproportionately affects 13 communities of color, lower-income areas, and rural 14 areas. 15 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR STATE BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT. 16 Title I of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 17 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘SEC. 14. GRANTS FOR STATE BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT. 20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.— 21 ‘‘(1) AREAS LACKING BROADBAND ACCESS.—In 22 this section— 23 ‘‘(A) the term ‘unserved area’ means an 24 area— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4113 IS ‘‘(i) in which broadband service at a 1 speed of not less than 25 megabits per sec- 2 ond for downloads and 3 megabits per sec- 3 ond for uploads is not available; or 4 ‘‘(ii) that is served by only 1 5 broadband service provider; 6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘underserved area’ means an 7 area, other than an unserved area, in which 8 broadband service at a speed of not less than 9 100 megabits per second for downloads and 10 100 megabits per second for uploads is not 11 available; 12 ‘‘(C) the term ‘other qualifying area’ 13 means an area, other than an unserved area or 14 underserved area, in which gigabit-level 15 broadband service is not available; and 16 ‘‘(D) the term ‘eligible area’ means an 17 unserved area, underserved area, or other quali- 18 fying area. 19 ‘‘(2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 20 ‘‘(A) the term ‘community anchor institu- 21 tion’ means an entity such as a school, library, 22 hospital or other medical provider, public safety 23 entity, institution of higher education, or com- 24 munity support organization that facilitates 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4113 IS greater use of broadband service by vulnerable 1 populations, including low-income individuals, 2 unemployed individuals, and aged individuals; 3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘gigabit-level broadband 4 service’ means broadband service with a speed 5 of not less than 1 gigabit per second for 6 downloads and 1 gigabit per second for uploads; 7 and 8 ‘‘(C) the term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the mean- 9 ing given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in section 4 of 10 the Indian Self-Determination and Education 11 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 12 ‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Commission shall 13 award grants to States and Indian Tribes for use in de- 14 ploying broadband to certain areas in accordance with 15 subsection (e). 16 ‘‘(c) FORMULA.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made 18 available for grants under this section, the Commis- 19 sion shall allocate— 20 ‘‘(A) $30,000,000,000 to States, of 21 which— 22 ‘‘(i) $15,000,000,000 shall be allo- 23 cated based on the proportion that the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4113 IS population of each State bears to the popu- 1 lation of all States; 2 ‘‘(ii) $7,500,000,000 shall be allocated 3 based on the proportion that the number 4 of individuals living in rural areas in each 5 State, as determined by the Bureau of the 6 Census, bears to the number of individuals 7 living in rural area in all States, as deter- 8 mined by the Bureau of the Census; and 9 ‘‘(iii) $7,500,000,000 shall be allo- 10 cated based on the proportion that the 11 number of individuals with a household in- 12 come that is below 150 percent of the Fed- 13 eral poverty level in each State bears to 14 the number of individuals with a household 15 income that is below 150 percent of the 16 Federal poverty level in all States; and 17 ‘‘(B) $1,000,000,000 to Indian Tribes 18 based on the proportion that the population of 19 each Indian Tribe bears to the population of all 20 Indian Tribes. 21 ‘‘(2) POPULATION DETERMINATION.—For pur- 22 poses of paragraph (1), the population of— 23 ‘‘(A) a State or a category of residents of 24 a State shall be determined based on the most 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4113 IS recent year for which data are available from 1 the Bureau of the Census; and 2 ‘‘(B) an Indian Tribe shall be determined 3 based on data certified by the Tribal govern- 4 ment. 5 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— A State or In- 6 dian Tribe may use not more than 2 percent of grant 7 amounts received under this section for expenses relating 8 to administration of the grant or the use of a competitive 9 bidding mechanism under subsection (g)(1). 10 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or Indian Tribe may 11 use grant amounts received under this section to award 12 subgrants for the deployment of broadband networks— 13 ‘‘(1) to unserved areas; 14 ‘‘(2) to underserved areas; 15 ‘‘(3) if the State or the territory under the ju- 16 risdiction of the Indian Tribe, as applicable, does not 17 contain any unserved areas or underserved areas, to 18 other qualifying areas; or 19 ‘‘(4) to community anchor institutions that lack 20 access to gigabit-level broadband service. 21 ‘‘(f) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE AREAS.— 22 ‘‘(1) INITIAL IDENTIFICATION.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before beginning a 24 competitive bidding mechanism under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4113 IS section (g)(1), a State or Indian Tribe shall 1 identify each area in the State or the territory 2 under the jurisdiction of the Indian Tribe, as 3 applicable, that is— 4 ‘‘(i) an unserved area; 5 ‘‘(ii) an underserved area; or 6 ‘‘(iii) an other qualifying area; 7 ‘‘(B) USE OF BROADBAND MAP.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 9 vided in clause (ii), a State or Indian Tribe 10 shall carry out subparagraph (A) using the 11 map created by the Commission under sec- 12 tion 802(c)(1)(A). 13 ‘‘(ii) TRANSITION RULE.—During the 14 period before the Commission creates the 15 map under section 802(c)(1)(A), a State or 16 Indian Tribe, for purposes of subpara- 17 graph (A)— 18 ‘‘(I) shall determine whether an 19 area is an unserved area, underserved 20 area, or other qualifying area in con- 21 sultation with each community in the 22 area; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4113 IS ‘‘(II) may use the broadband 1 map of the Commission that is then in 2 effect. 3 ‘‘(2) CHALLENGE PROCESS.—A State or Indian 4 Tribe shall— 5 ‘‘(A) provide public notice of the classifica- 6 tion of each area identified under paragraph 7 (1)(A); 8 ‘‘(B) provide local governments and other 9 broadband service providers the opportunity to 10 challenge— 11 ‘‘(i) the classification of an area iden- 12 tified under paragraph (1)(A); or 13 ‘‘(ii) the failure of the State or Indian 14 Tribe to classify a particular area as an el- 15 igible area under paragraph (1)(A); and 16 ‘‘(C) not later than 90 days after a chal- 17 lenge is made under subparagraph (B), conduct 18 a transparent and evidence-based process to re- 19 solve the challenge. 20 ‘‘(3) FINAL IDENTIFICATION; NOTIFICATION OF 21 FUNDING ELIGIBILITY.—After resolving each chal- 22 lenge under paragraph (2), and not later than 30 23 days before beginning the competitive bidding mech- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4113 IS anism under subsection (g)(1), a State or Indian 1 Tribe shall— 2 ‘‘(A) provide public notice of the final clas- 3 sification of each eligible area in the State or 4 the territory under the jurisdiction of the In- 5 dian Tribe, as applicable; and 6 ‘‘(B) make a good faith effort to notify 7 each community within, and each relevant pri- 8 vate entity for, each eligible area in the State 9 or the territory under the jurisdiction of the In- 10 dian Tribe, as applicable, about the opportunity 11 to compete for funding through the competitive 12 bidding mechanism. 13 ‘‘(g) SUBGRANTS.— 14 ‘‘(1) COMPETITIVE BIDDING.—A State or In- 15 dian Tribe, in awarding subgrants for the deploy- 16 ment of a broadband network using grant amounts 17 received under this section, as authorized under sub- 18 section (e)— 19 ‘‘(A) shall use a competitive bidding mech- 20 anism that— 21 ‘‘(i) does not exclude cooperatives, 22 nonprofit organizations, public-private 23 partnerships, tribally owned entities, or 24 local governments; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4113 IS ‘‘(ii) consists of up to 3 rounds of bid- 1 ding, under which— 2 ‘‘(I) the first round shall provide 3 funds for broadband deployment to 4 unserved areas; 5 ‘‘(II) the second round shall pro- 6 vide funds (if still available) for 7 broadband deployment to underserved 8 areas; 9 ‘‘(III) the third round shall pro- 10 vide funds (if still available) for 11 broadband deployment to other quali- 12 fying areas; and 13 ‘‘(IV) each round shall consist of 14 2 stages— 15 ‘‘(aa) the first of which shall 16 be open only to broadband serv- 17 ice providers committing to offer 18 at least gigabit-level broadband 19 service; and 20 ‘‘(bb) the second of which 21 shall be open to any broadband 22 service provider that did not re- 23 ceive funding during the first 24 stage; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4113 IS ‘‘(B) during each stage of the competitive 1 bidding mechanism under subparagraph (A), 2 shall give priority to an entity that— 3 ‘‘(i) will provide not less than 1 tier of 4 broadband service at a faster speed than 5 the minimum speed required for that 6 stage; 7 ‘‘(ii) will— 8 ‘‘(I) begin construction of the 9 broadband network not later than 180 10 days after being awarded the 11 subgrant; and 12 ‘‘(II) deploy the broadband net- 13 work and begin providing broadband 14 service to each customer that desires 15 broadband service by a date that is 16 earlier than the deadline under para- 17 graph (2)(B); or 18 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a subgrant award- 19 ed by a State, has a letter of endorsement 20 for the project from the local government 21 for each community that the project will 22 serve; and 23 ‘‘(C) during the first stage of any round of 24 the competitive bidding mechanism under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4113 IS paragraph (A), may award a subgrant to an en- 1 tity to deploy a broadband network to a com- 2 munity anchor institution located in the type of 3 area that is eligible for funding in that round. 4 ‘‘(2) DEPLOYMENT AND PROVISION OF SERVICE 5 REQUIREMENTS.—An entity that deploys a 6 broadband network using a subgrant awarded under 7 paragraph (1), as authorized under subsection (e), 8 shall— 9 ‘‘(A) in providing broadband service using 10 the network— 11 ‘‘(i) provide broadband service— 12 ‘‘(I) at a speed of not less than— 13 ‘‘(aa) except as provided in 14 item (bb), 100 megabits per sec- 15 ond for downloads and 100 16 megabits per second for uploads; 17 or 18 ‘‘(bb) 1 gigabit per second 19 for downloads and 1 gigabit per 20 second for uploads in the case of 21 a subgrant awarded during the 22 first stage of any round of com- 23 petitive bidding under paragraph 24 (1), including such a subgrant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4113 IS awarded for the deployment of a 1 broadband network to a commu- 2 nity anchor institution; and 3 ‘‘(II) with a latency that is suffi- 4 ciently low to allow real-time, inter- 5 active applications; 6 ‘‘(ii) provide access to broadband serv- 7 ice to each customer, in the area to which 8 the subgrant applies, that— 9 ‘‘(I) lacks broadband service with 10 a speed of— 11 ‘‘(aa) not less than 25 12 megabits per second for 13 downloads and 3 megabits per 14 second for uploads, in the case of 15 an unserved area; 16 ‘‘(bb) not less than 100 17 megabits per second for 18 downloads and 100 megabits per 19 second for uploads, in the case of 20 an underserved area; or 21 ‘‘(cc) not less than 1 gigabit 22 per second for downloads and 1 23 gigabit per second for uploads, in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:39 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4113.IS S4113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 •S 4113 IS the case of an other qualifying 1 area; and 2 ‘‘(II) desires broadband service; 3 and 4 ‘‘(iii) to an eligible area, offer not less 5 than 1 discount subscription option for 6 customers whose family is in p [Text truncated for display. 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