II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5021 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to make amendments 

to the E-rate program of the Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 15, 2020 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to make 

amendments to the E-rate program of the Commission, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Every Child Connected 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. E-RATE PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

9 Communications Commission; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘distance learning’’ has the mean2 ing given the term in section 8101 of the Elemen3 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 7801); and 

5 (3) the term ‘‘E-rate program’’ means the uni6 versal service program set forth under subpart F of 

7 part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

8 any successor regulations). 

9 (b) UPDATES TO E-RATE PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis12 sion shall amend the E-rate program to provide 

13 that— 

14 (A) activities that are integral, immediate, 

15 and proximate to the education of a student, 

16 even if those activities are performed in the 

17 home of a student, qualify as activities that are 

18 for educational purposes for the purposes of the 

19 E-rate program; 

20 (B) a household in which a student is en21 gaged or participating in distance learning shall 

22 be an eligible recipient under the E-rate pro23 gram; and 

24 (C) the aggregate annual cap on Federal 

25 universal service support under the E-rate proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5021.IS S5021

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1 gram shall be $10,000,000,000 per funding 

2 year. 

3 (2) COORDINATION.—In making the amend4 ments required under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

5 paragraph (1), the Commission shall coordinate with 

6 the Secretary of Education and appropriate instru7 mentalities of State and local governments. 

8 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND9 MENTS.—Section 254 of the Communications Act of 

10 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) is amended— 

11 (A) in subsection (b)(6), by inserting ‘‘cer12 tain households (solely for the purposes de13 scribed in section 2(b)(1)(B) of the Every Child 

14 Connected Act),’’ after ‘‘schools and class15 rooms,’’; 

16 (B) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting ‘‘cer17 tain households (solely for the purposes de18 scribed in section 2(b)(1)(B) of the Every Child 

19 Connected Act),’’ after ‘‘schools,’’; and 

20 (C) in subsection (h)— 

21 (i) in paragraph (1)(B), in the first 

22 sentence of the matter preceding clause (i), 

23 by inserting ‘‘certain households (solely for 

24 the purposes described in section 


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1 2(b)(1)(B) of the Every Child Connected 

2 Act),’’ after ‘‘secondary schools,’’; and 

3 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (I) in subparagraph (A), by in5 serting ‘‘certain households (solely for 

6 the purposes described in section 

7 2(b)(1)(B) of the Every Child Con8 nected Act),’’ after ‘‘classrooms,’’; and 

9 (II) in subparagraph (B), by in10 serting ‘‘or household’’ after ‘‘public 

11 institutional’’. 

12 (c) TRANSFER OF FTC CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 

13 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) 

14 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(o)(1) In this subsection, the term ‘E-rate program’ 

16 means the universal service program set forth under sub17 part F of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations 

18 (or any successor regulations). 

19 ‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary of the 

20 Treasury shall transfer to the Federal Communications 

21 Commission an amount equal to any amount collected in 

22 connection with a civil penalty under subsection (l) or (m). 

23 ‘‘(3) The amounts transferred to the Federal Com24 munications Commission pursuant to paragraph (2) shall 

25 be— 


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1 ‘‘(A) transferred at least monthly from the gen2 eral fund of the Treasury to the Federal Commu3 nications Commission on the basis of estimates made 

4 by the Secretary of the Treasury; 

5 ‘‘(B) used by the Federal Communications 

6 Commission to carry out the E-rate program, as 

7 amended in accordance with section 2(b) of the 

8 Every Child Connected Act; and 

9 ‘‘(C) properly adjusted in the amounts subse10 quently transferred to the extent prior estimates 

11 were in excess of or less than the amounts required 

12 to be transferred.’’. 

Æ 


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