DEPLOY Broadband Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4291 To provide appropriations for the deployment of rural broadband, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 23, 2020 Mr. GARDNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To provide appropriations for the deployment of rural broadband, 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 ‘‘Developing Economic 4 Prosperity and Linking Our Youth through Broadband 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘DEPLOY Broadband Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act— 8 (1) the term ‘‘broadband internet access serv- 9 ice’’ has the meaning given the term in section 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4291.IS S4291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4291 IS 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or 1 any successor regulation; and 2 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 3 Communications Commission. 4 SEC. 3. APPROPRIATIONS FOR DEPLOYMENT OF RURAL 5 BROADBAND. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is appropriated, out of 7 amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 8 $6,500,000,000 to the Commission, to remain available 9 until expended, for the deployment of broadband-capable 10 infrastructure in areas that the Commission determines 11 are unserved with respect to broadband internet access 12 service. 13 (b) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.—The amount made 14 available by paragraph (1) is designated by Congress as 15 being for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 16 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 17 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)(i)). 18 SEC. 4. RURAL SET-ASIDE. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(j)(8) of the Commu- 20 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)) is amended— 21 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and (G)’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘(G), and (H)’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4291.IS S4291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4291 IS (2) in subparagraph (G)(iii)(II), in the matter 1 preceding item (aa), by striking ‘‘All’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘Except as provided in subparagraph (H), all’’; and 3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(H) RURAL DIVIDEND.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 6 subparagraph (A) and except as provided 7 in subparagraphs (B), (D), (E), and (F)— 8 ‘‘(I) the Commission shall allo- 9 cate not less than 10 percent of the 10 net proceeds attributable to each sys- 11 tem of competitive bidding conducted 12 under this subsection for the deploy- 13 ment of broadband-capable infrastruc- 14 ture in areas that the Commission has 15 determined are underserved or 16 unserved with respect to broadband 17 internet access service; and 18 ‘‘(II) subject to this subsection, 19 not less than 50 percent of the net 20 proceeds from each use of a system of 21 competitive bidding under this para- 22 graph on and after the date of enact- 23 ment of this subparagraph shall be 24 deposited in the general fund of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4291.IS S4291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4291 IS Treasury until the date on which the 1 aggregate amount of those deposits 2 equals $6,500,000,000. 3 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—No amounts allo- 4 cated under clause (i)(I) may be combined 5 with amounts that are used to fund any 6 other program that is in existence on the 7 date on which the allocation is made, in- 8 cluding any program established under sec- 9 tion 254. 10 ‘‘(iii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 11 Nothing under this subparagraph shall be 12 construed to automatically prohibit or dis- 13 qualify a provider of broadband internet 14 access service from receiving funds under 15 any other program related to broadband 16 internet access service, including any pro- 17 gram established under section 254. 18 ‘‘(iv) DEFINITION.—In this subpara- 19 graph, the term ‘broadband internet access 20 service’ has the meaning given such term 21 in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Fed- 22 eral Regulations, or any successor regula- 23 tion.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4291.IS S4291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4291 IS (b) PUBLIC SAFETY TRUST FUND.—Section 1 6413(b)(8) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Cre- 2 ation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1457(b)(8)) is amended by 3 striking ‘‘Any’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub- 4 paragraph (H) of section 309(j)(8) of the Communications 5 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)), any’’. 6 SEC. 5. COORDINATION. 7 The Commission shall coordinate with the National 8 Telecommunications and Information Administration and 9 the Rural Utilities Service to avoid overbuilding of 10 broadband internet access service in areas assisted under 11 this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4291.IS S4291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS