Small Business Broadband and Emerging Information Technology Enhancement Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4588 To improve certain programs of the Small Business Administration to better assist small business customers in accessing broadband technology, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. ERNST, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. RISCH, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre- neurship A BILL To improve certain programs of the Small Business Adminis- tration to better assist small business customers in ac- cessing broadband technology, 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 ‘‘Small Business 4 Broadband and Emerging Information Technology En- 5 hancement Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4588 IS SEC. 2. BROADBAND AND EMERGING INFORMATION TECH- 1 NOLOGY COORDINATOR. 2 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 3 amended— 4 (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 5 note) as section 50; and 6 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 7 657u) the following: 8 ‘‘SEC. 49. BROADBAND AND EMERGING INFORMATION 9 TECHNOLOGY. 10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Associate Administrator’ means 12 the Associate Administrator for the Office of Invest- 13 ment and Innovation; 14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘broadband’ means— 15 ‘‘(A) high-speed wired broadband internet; 16 and 17 ‘‘(B) high-speed wireless internet; 18 ‘‘(3) the term ‘broadband and emerging infor- 19 mation technology coordinator’ means the employee 20 designated to carry out the broadband and emerging 21 information technology coordination responsibilities 22 of the Administration under subsection (b)(1); and 23 ‘‘(4) the term ‘emerging information tech- 24 nology’ includes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4588 IS ‘‘(A) data science technologies such as arti- 1 ficial intelligence and machine learning; 2 ‘‘(B) Internet of Things; 3 ‘‘(C) distributed ledger technologies such 4 as blockchain; 5 ‘‘(D) cloud computing and software as a 6 system technologies; 7 ‘‘(E) computer numerical control tech- 8 nologies such as 3D printing; and 9 ‘‘(F) robotics and automation. 10 ‘‘(b) ASSIGNMENT OF COORDINATOR.— 11 ‘‘(1) ASSIGNMENT OF COORDINATOR.—The As- 12 sociate Administrator shall designate a senior em- 13 ployee of the Office of Investment and Innovation to 14 serve as the broadband and emerging information 15 technology coordinator, who— 16 ‘‘(A) shall report to the Associate Adminis- 17 trator; 18 ‘‘(B) shall work in coordination with— 19 ‘‘(i) the chief information officer, the 20 chief technology officer, and the head of 21 the Office of Technology of the Adminis- 22 tration; and 23 ‘‘(ii) any other Associate Adminis- 24 trator of the Administration determined 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4588 IS appropriate by the Associate Adminis- 1 trator; 2 ‘‘(C) has experience developing and imple- 3 menting telecommunications policy in the pri- 4 vate sector or government; and 5 ‘‘(D) has demonstrated significant experi- 6 ence in the area of broadband or emerging in- 7 formation technology. 8 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF COORDINATOR.— 9 The broadband and emerging information technology 10 coordinator shall— 11 ‘‘(A) coordinate programs of the Adminis- 12 tration that assist small business concerns in 13 adopting, making innovations in, and using 14 broadband and other emerging information 15 technologies; 16 ‘‘(B) serve as the primary liaison of the 17 Administration to other Federal agencies in- 18 volved in broadband and emerging information 19 technology policy, including the Department of 20 Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, the 21 Department of the Treasury, and the Federal 22 Communications Commission; 23 ‘‘(C) identify best practices relating to 24 broadband and emerging information tech- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4588 IS nology that may benefit small business con- 1 cerns; and 2 ‘‘(D) identify and catalog tools and train- 3 ing available through the resource partners of 4 the Administration that assist small business 5 concerns in adopting, making innovations in, 6 and using broadband and emerging information 7 technologies. 8 ‘‘(3) TRAVEL.—Not more than 20 percent of 9 the hours of service by the broadband and emerging 10 information technology coordinator during any fiscal 11 year shall consist of travel outside the United States 12 to perform official duties. 13 ‘‘(c) BROADBAND AND EMERGING INFORMATION 14 TECHNOLOGY TRAINING.— 15 ‘‘(1) TRAINING.—The Associate Administrator 16 shall provide to employees of the Administration 17 training that— 18 ‘‘(A) familiarizes employees of the Admin- 19 istration with broadband and other emerging 20 information technologies; 21 ‘‘(B) includes— 22 ‘‘(i) instruction on counseling small 23 business concerns regarding adopting, 24 making innovations in, and using 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4588 IS broadband and other emerging information 1 technologies; and 2 ‘‘(ii) information on programs of the 3 Federal Government that provide assist- 4 ance to small business concerns relating to 5 broadband and emerging information tech- 6 nologies; and 7 ‘‘(C) to maximum extent practicable, uses 8 the tools and training cataloged and identified 9 under subsection (b)(2)(D). 10 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 11 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 12 as are necessary to carry out this subsection. 13 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 14 ‘‘(1) BIENNIAL REPORT ON ACTIVITIES.—Not 15 later than 2 years after the date on which the Asso- 16 ciate Administrator makes the first designation of 17 an employee under subsection (b), and every 2 years 18 thereafter, the broadband and emerging information 19 technology coordinator shall submit to the Com- 20 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 21 the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 22 the House of Representatives a report regarding the 23 programs and activities of the Administration relat- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4588 IS ing to broadband and other emerging information 1 technologies. 2 ‘‘(2) IMPACT OF BROADBAND AVAILABILITY, 3 SPEED, AND PRICE AND EMERGING INFORMATION 4 TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT ON SMALL BUSI- 5 NESSES.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to appropria- 7 tions, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy shall con- 8 duct a study evaluating the impact of— 9 ‘‘(i) broadband availability, speed, and 10 price on small business concerns; and 11 ‘‘(ii) emerging information technology 12 deployment on small business concerns. 13 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 14 after the date of enactment of the Small Busi- 15 ness Broadband and Emerging Information 16 Technology Enhancement Act of 2020, the 17 Chief Counsel for Advocacy shall submit to the 18 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans- 19 portation and the Committee on Small Business 20 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the 21 Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 22 Committee on Small Business of the House of 23 Representatives a report on the results of the 24 study under subparagraph (A), including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4588 IS ‘‘(i) a survey of broadband speeds 1 available to small business concerns; 2 ‘‘(ii) a survey of the cost of broadband 3 speeds available to small business con- 4 cerns; 5 ‘‘(iii) a survey of the type of 6 broadband technology used by small busi- 7 ness concerns; 8 ‘‘(iv) a survey of the types of emerg- 9 ing information technologies used by small 10 business concerns; and 11 ‘‘(v) any policy recommendations that 12 may improve the access of small business 13 concerns to comparable broadband services 14 or emerging information technologies at 15 comparable rates in all regions of the 16 United States.’’. 17 SEC. 3. ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT. 18 Section 21(c)(3)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 19 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)(B)) is amended— 20 (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by insert- 21 ing ‘‘accessing broadband and other emerging infor- 22 mation technology,’’ after ‘‘technology transfer,’’; 23 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4588 IS (3) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; 1 and 2 (4) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(iv) increasing the competitiveness and 4 productivity of small business concerns by as- 5 sisting entrepreneurs in accessing broadband 6 and other emerging information technology;’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4588.IS S4588 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS