COVS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7566 To allow the Administrator of the General Services Administration to transfer certain surplus computers and technology equipment to nonprofit com- puter refurbishers for repair and distribution, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 9, 2020 Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. RIGGLEMAN, and Mrs. LURIA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To allow the Administrator of the General Services Adminis- tration to transfer certain surplus computers and tech- nology equipment to nonprofit computer refurbishers for repair and distribution, 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 ‘‘Computers for Vet- 4 erans and Students Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘COVS Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7566 IH (1) Access to computers and computer tech- 1 nology is indispensable for success in the 21st cen- 2 tury. Millions of Americans do not regularly use a 3 computer, and research shows that substantial dis- 4 parities remain in both internet use and the quality 5 of access with the digital divide concentrated among 6 older, less educated, less affluent populations, espe- 7 cially veterans, low-income students, and senior citi- 8 zens. 9 (2) In 1996, the President issued Executive 10 Order 12999 instructing the General Services Ad- 11 ministration (GSA) to allow schools and nonprofits 12 the ability to receive Federal surplus computers for 13 educational purposes. 14 (3) GSA created the Computers for Learning 15 Program, which distributes approximately 30,000 16 computers and computer-related equipment annually 17 to public schools and educational nonprofits for 18 reuse. 19 (4) In July 2017, the Inspector General for 20 GSA issued a report on the lack of controls with the 21 CFL website. The report noted multiple cases of 22 theft or fraud pertaining to lack of vetting of edu- 23 cation nonprofits registering on the website. Al- 24 though GSA indicated that other Federal agencies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7566 IH had responsibility to vet nonprofits for eligibility, 1 many agencies were not aware of this requirement. 2 (5) Since the IG report was issued, GSA has 3 implemented reforms to ensure that agencies are 4 aware of their responsibility to determine that edu- 5 cational nonprofits are certified tax-exempt 6 501(c)(3) organizations. However, there remains an 7 issue with schools obtaining surplus computers that 8 are not ready to use. In most cases, the schools do 9 not have the resources to pay to refurbish the com- 10 puters, which results in computers being wasted. 11 (6) Any Federal program that distributes re- 12 tired Federal computers to a public school, an edu- 13 cational nonprofit organization, or a nonprofit com- 14 puter refurbisher for repair and distribution, would 15 benefit from a partnership with a nonprofit organi- 16 zation, whose mission includes bridging the digital 17 divide. 18 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN SURPLUS COMPUTERS AND 19 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT TO NONPROFIT 20 COMPUTER REFURBISHERS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.— 22 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The head of each Fed- 23 eral agency may transfer any surplus computer or 24 technology equipment that is not being used by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7566 IH Federal agency, or has not been requested for use by 1 another Federal agency, and has not been used for 2 classified information (unless the relevant agency 3 head determines that appropriate steps were taken 4 to wipe the memory of such computer or technology 5 equipment)— 6 (A) directly to an eligible computer refur- 7 bisher for receipt in accordance with subsection 8 (b); or 9 (B) to the Administrator of the General 10 Services Administration for further transfer in 11 accordance with paragraph (2). 12 (2) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 13 The Administrator shall transfer a computer re- 14 ceived under paragraph (1) to a public school, an 15 educational nonprofit organization, or a nonprofit 16 computer refurbisher for repair and distribution in 17 accordance with subsection (b)(1). 18 (3) PARTNERSHIP.—The Administrator may es- 19 tablish a partnership nonprofit computer refurbisher 20 to facilitate the identification of computer refur- 21 bisher organizations and the distribution of com- 22 puters to such computer refurbishers. 23 (b) DUTIES OF NONPROFIT COMPUTER REFUR- 24 BISHERS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7566 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—A computer refurbisher who 1 receives a computer under paragraph (1) or (2) shall 2 repair and distribute such computer to educational 3 institution, a veteran, an individual with a disability, 4 a low-income individual, a student, or a senior in 5 need. 6 (2) TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Each nonprofit 7 computer refurbisher to whom the Administrator of 8 the General Services Administration transfers a sur- 9 plus computer or technology equipment under sub- 10 section (a) shall offer training programs on the use 11 of computers and technology equipment for— 12 (A) educational institutions; 13 (B) veterans; 14 (C) individuals with disabilities; 15 (D) low-income individuals; 16 (E) students; and 17 (F) seniors. 18 (3) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the Sense of 19 Congress that each nonprofit computer refurbisher 20 to whom the Administrator of the General Services 21 Administration transfers a surplus computer or tech- 22 nology equipment under subsection (a) should dis- 23 pose of any such computer or technology that cannot 24 be reused due to age or condition— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7566 IH (A) in compliance with any Federal, State, 1 or local law relating to the disposition of any in- 2 formation technology assets that cannot be re- 3 used or refurbished due to condition or age; and 4 (B) in ways that can still be leveraged to 5 fulfill their missions to bridge the digital divide. 6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) DIGITAL DIVIDE.—The gap between those 8 who have an internet-connected computer and the 9 skills to use it, and those who do not. Principle bar- 10 riers to closing this gap include access to devices, af- 11 fordability, digital literacy, and access to broadband. 12 (2) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term 13 ‘‘educational institution’’ means— 14 (A) any public or private child care center, 15 preschool, elementary school, secondary school, 16 accredited institution of vocational or profes- 17 sional education, or institution of higher edu- 18 cation; and 19 (B) in the case of an accredited institution 20 of vocational or professional education or an in- 21 stitution of higher education composed of more 22 than one school, college, or department that is 23 administratively a separate unit, each such 24 school, college, or department. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7566 IH (3) EDUCATIONAL NONPROFIT.—The term 1 ‘‘educational nonprofit’’ means a nonprofit organiza- 2 tion that has a training component whereby the non- 3 profit organization trains the end user of the com- 4 puter equipment how to use such equipment and 5 that— 6 (A) has a mission related to education; or 7 (B) serves veterans, individuals with dis- 8 abilities, low-income individuals, or seniors. 9 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 10 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 11 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High- 12 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 13 (5) NONPROFIT COMPUTER REFURBISHER.— 14 The term ‘‘nonprofit computer refurbisher’’ means a 15 nonprofit organization— 16 (A) that primarily works to improve access 17 to information and communication technology 18 in order to Bridge the Digital Divide; and 19 (B) that is exempt from taxation under 20 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 21 of 1986. 22 (6) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec- 23 ondary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7566 IH section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 1 cation Act of 1965. 2 (7) SENIOR.—The term ‘‘senior’’ means any in- 3 dividual who is 65 years of age or older. 4 (8) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means any 5 individual enrolled in an educational institution, ex- 6 cluding a public or private child care center. 7 (9) TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT.—The term 8 ‘‘technology equipment’’ means physical assets re- 9 lated to computers and information technology, in- 10 cluding peripheral components, tablets, communica- 11 tion devices (such as routers, servers, and cell 12 phones), printers, scanners, uninterruptible power 13 sources, and cables and connections. 14 (10) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 15 meaning given such term in section 101 of title 38, 16 United States Code. 17 (d) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 18 date of enactment of this Act, and every three years there- 19 after, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report 20 on the efforts of the Administrator and the head of each 21 Federal agency under this Act. Such report shall in- 22 clude— 23 (1) the number of Federal computers retired in 24 that time period; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7566 IH (2) the number of those retired computers that 1 were used in this program (and the uses of retired 2 computers that were not included in this program); 3 (3) the distribution split of those retired Fed- 4 eral computers to public schools, educational non- 5 profit organizations, and a nonprofit computer refur- 6 bisher for repair and distribution; and 7 (4) the number of computers sent to computer 8 refurbishers and the number of computers that were 9 donated under this section. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7566.IH H7566 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS