ACCESS the Internet Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4515 To provide funding for internet-connected devices and associated internet connectivity services. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 6, 2020 Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations A BILL To provide funding for internet-connected devices and associated internet connectivity 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 ‘‘Accelerating Connected 4 Care and Education Support Services on the Internet 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘ACCESS the Internet Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. EDUCATION. 7 (a) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—Out of amounts in the 8 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is appro- 9 priated to the Elementary and Secondary School Emer- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4515 IS gency Relief Fund established under section 18001(b)(2) 1 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136), 2 $1,300,000,000 to make elementary and secondary school 3 emergency relief grants to State educational agencies, in 4 accordance with subsection (b), for the purchase of inter- 5 net-connected devices and associated internet connectivity 6 services to support distance learning at elementary schools 7 and secondary schools. The Secretary of Education shall 8 make such grants not later than 30 days after the date 9 of enactment of this Act. 10 (b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.— 11 (1) RURAL SCHOOLS.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts 13 made available for this section, the Secretary 14 shall use $260,000,000 to allocate funds to 15 each State that received funds under the Rural 16 and Low-Income School Program under subpart 17 2 of part B of title V of the Elementary and 18 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 19 7351 et seq.) in the same proportion as each 20 such State received funds under that subpart 21 for fiscal year 2019. 22 (B) SUBGRANTS.—Not later than 30 days 23 after receipt of funds under this paragraph, a 24 State educational agency shall allocate those 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4515 IS funds to rural local educational agencies in the 1 State in the same proportion as each rural local 2 educational agency received funds under the 3 Rural and Low-Income School Program under 4 subpart 2 of part B of title V of the Elemen- 5 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 6 U.S.C. 7351 et seq.) for fiscal year 2019 to en- 7 able those rural local educational agencies to 8 carry out the activities described in subsection 9 (a). 10 (2) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts 12 made available to carry out this section, the 13 Secretary shall use $1,040,000,000 to allocate 14 funds to each State in the same proportion as 15 each State received funds under part A of title 16 I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for fiscal 18 year 2019. 19 (B) SUBGRANTS.—Not later than 30 days 20 after receipt of funds under this paragraph, a 21 State educational agency shall allocate those 22 funds to local educational agencies in the State 23 in proportion to the amount of funds such local 24 educational agencies received under part A of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4515 IS title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 1 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for 2 fiscal year 2019. 3 (c) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds pro- 4 vided under this section shall be used to supplement, not 5 supplant, other Federal or State funds available to carry 6 out activities described in this section. 7 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) ESEA.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, 9 ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, 10 ‘‘Secretary’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State educational agen- 11 cy’’ have the meanings given those terms in section 12 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 14 (2) RURAL LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 15 The term ‘‘rural local educational agency’’ means a 16 local educational agency that is eligible for funds 17 under the Rural and Low-Income School Program 18 under subpart 2 of part B of title V of the Elemen- 19 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 20 U.S.C. 7351 et seq.). 21 (e) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided under 23 this section are designated as an emergency require- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4515 IS ment pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay- 1 As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 2 (2) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, 3 this section is designated as an emergency require- 4 ment pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 5 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 6 the budget for fiscal year 2018. 7 SEC. 3. LIBRARY SERVICES. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘li- 9 brary’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State library administrative agen- 10 cy’’ have the meanings given those terms in section 213 11 of the Museum and Library Services Act (20 U.S.C. 12 9122). 13 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.— 14 (1) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—Out of amounts 15 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is 16 appropriated to the Institute of Museum and Li- 17 brary Services $200,000,000 to carry out the pilot 18 program under this section. Not later than 21 days 19 after the date of enactment of this section, the Di- 20 rector of the Institute of Museum and Library Serv- 21 ices shall establish a 2-year pilot program, through 22 which the Director shall— 23 (A) reserve 2.5 percent of the amounts ap- 24 propriated to carry out this section to make 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4515 IS grants to Indian Tribes and to organizations 1 that primarily serve and represent Native Ha- 2 waiians (as the term is defined in section 6207 3 of the Native Hawaiian Education Act (20 4 U.S.C. 7517)) to enable such tribes and organi- 5 zations to carry out the activities described in 6 subsection (c); and 7 (B) allocate grant funds to States in ac- 8 cordance with paragraph (2) to enable States, 9 through the State library administrative agency, 10 as appropriate, to carry out the activities de- 11 scribed in subsection (c). 12 (2) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.— 13 (A) MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS.— 14 (i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 15 this subsection, the minimum allotment for 16 each State shall be $1,600,000, except that 17 the minimum allotment shall be $160,000 18 in the case of the United States Virgin Is- 19 lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Com- 20 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 21 lands, the Republic of the Marshall Is- 22 lands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 23 and the Republic of Palau. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4515 IS (ii) RATABLE REDUCTION.—Notwith- 1 standing clause (i), if the sum appro- 2 priated to carry out this section is insuffi- 3 cient to fully satisfy the requirement of 4 clause (i), each of the minimum allotments 5 under such clause shall be reduced ratably. 6 (B) REMAINDER.— 7 (i) IN GENERAL.—From the remain- 8 der of any sums not reserved or allotted 9 under subparagraph (A), the Director shall 10 award grants to each State in an amount 11 that bears the same relation to such re- 12 mainder as the population of the State 13 bears to the population of all States. 14 (ii) DATA.—The population of each 15 State and of all the States shall be deter- 16 mined by the Director on the basis of the 17 most recent data available from the Bu- 18 reau of the Census. 19 (3) GRANTS FOR INDIAN TRIBES.—An Indian 20 tribe that is eligible for support under section 261 21 of the Library Services and Technology Act (20 22 U.S.C. 9161) may designate a tribal library or tribal 23 library consortium as a library or consortium that is 24 eligible for grant funds under this section, without 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4515 IS regard to whether the library or library consortium 1 is eligible for assistance from a State Library Ad- 2 ministrative Agency under the Library Services and 3 Technology Act (20 U.S.C. 9121 et seq.), if the li- 4 brary or library consortium is eligible for support 5 from an Indian tribe under such section 261. 6 (c) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Each State, Indian 7 Tribe, or other entity receiving a grant, contract, or coop- 8 erative agreement under this section shall use funding 9 under this section to— 10 (1) expand digital network access by purchasing 11 and distributing internet-connected devices, such as 12 hotspots, to libraries in low-income and rural areas 13 so that those libraries can allow individuals to bor- 14 row internet-connected devices for home use and in- 15 stall or upgrade public Wi-Fi access points for use 16 on or near library grounds; 17 (2) provide libraries with funds to pay the other 18 expenses associated with such devices and services, 19 such as processing, training, associated connectivity, 20 hardware and support, and other necessary expenses 21 related to the retention of these devices and provi- 22 sion of these services; or 23 (3) encourage existing and new partnerships be- 24 tween State and local governments, libraries, non- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4515 IS profit entities, agencies including the Federal Com- 1 munications Commission, and telecommunication, 2 broadband, and internet service providers to coordi- 3 nate the distribution of hotspots and other internet- 4 connected devices and services. 5 (d) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, OR COOPERATIVE AGREE- 6 MENTS.—From amounts appropriated to carry out this 7 section, $1,000,000 shall be made available for the Direc- 8 tor of the Institute of Museum and Library Services for 9 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements with Federal 10 agencies, public and private organizations, and other enti- 11 ties determined to be eligible by the Director to enable 12 those agencies, organizations, and entities to carry out the 13 activities described in subsection (c). 14 (e) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided under 16 this section are designated as an emergency require- 17 ment pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay- 18 As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 19 (2) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, 20 this section is designated as an emergency require- 21 ment pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 22 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 23 the budget for fiscal year 2018. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4515 IS SEC. 4. FCC COVID–19 TELEHEALTH PROGRAM. 1 (a) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—Out of amounts in the 2 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is appro- 3 priated to the Federal Communications Commission 4 $400,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 to carry out the 5 COVID–19 Telehealth Program established by the Com- 6 mission under the authority provided under the heading 7 ‘‘SALARIES AND EXPENSES’’ under the heading ‘‘FEDERAL 8 COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION’’ under the heading 9 ‘‘INDEPENDENT AGENCIES’’ in title V of division B 10 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136; 134 Stat. 281), 11 to remain available until expended. 12 (b) LIMITATION.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less than $80,000,000 14 of the amounts made available under subsection (a) 15 shall be used to assist health care providers that— 16 (A) are located in a rural area (as defined 17 in section 54.600 of title 47, Code of Federal 18 Regulations, or any successor regulation); and 19 (B) have fewer than 500 employees. 20 (2) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT EXEMP- 21 TION.—A collection of information conducted or 22 sponsored under regulations required to implement 23 paragraph (1)(B) shall not constitute a collection of 24 information for the purposes of subchapter I of 25 chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (com- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4515 IS monly referred to as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 1 Act’’). 2 (c) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided under 4 this section are designated as an emergency require- 5 ment pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay- 6 As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 7 (2) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, 8 this section is designated as an emergency require- 9 ment pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 10 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 11 the budget for fiscal year 2018. 12 SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS FOR DEPARTMENT OF VET- 13 ERANS AFFAIRS TO PURCHASE, MAINTAIN, 14 AND REFRESH DEVICES AND SERVICES FOR 15 PROVISION OF TELEHEALTH SERVICES. 16 (a) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—Out of amounts in the 17 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is appro- 18 priated to the Department of Veterans Affairs 19 $100,000,000 for Telehealth and Connected Care, Con- 20 nected Care Program Funding: Sustainment and Expan- 21 sion, Home and Community Based Services, to be used— 22 (1) to furnish internet-connected devices (such 23 as tablets) and associated internet access services to 24 veterans for purposes of providing such veterans 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4515.IS S4515 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4515 IS with access to telehealth services from the Depart- 1 ment; and 2 (2) to maintain and refresh such devices and 3 services and any such devices and services previously 4 provided to veterans for such purposes. 5 (b) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts appro- 6 priated under subsection (a) shall remain available for ob- 7 ligation until September 30, 2022. 8 (c) PRIORITY.—In expendin [Text truncated for display. 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