I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4160 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to increase regional 

telecommunications development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2015 

Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Mr. NOLAN) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to increase 

regional telecommunications development, 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 ‘‘Rural Broadband In5 frastructure Investment Act’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4160 IH

1 SEC. 2. RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVELOPMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Rural Electrifica3 tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 922 et seq.) is amended by 

4 adding at the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 208. REGIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVELOP6 MENT. 

7 ‘‘In addition to any preference given under section 

8 201 with respect to a telephone loan made under this Act, 

9 the Secretary may give preference to an application for 

10 such a loan for a project that, as determined by the Sec11 retary, supports the development of telecommunications 

12 services on a multijurisdictional basis. In evaluating such 

13 an application, the Secretary shall consider whether— 

14 ‘‘(1) the project that is the subject of the appli15 cation was developed through the collaboration and 

16 participation of multiple stakeholders in the service 

17 area of the project, including State, local, and tribal 

18 governments, nonprofit institutions, institutions of 

19 higher education, and private entities; 

20 ‘‘(2) the applicant has an understanding of the 

21 applicable regional resources that could support the 

22 project, including natural resources, human re23 sources, infrastructure, and financial resources; and 

24 ‘‘(3) the project has clear objectives and in25 cludes a means to establish measurable performance 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4160 IH

1 measures and to track progress toward meeting such 

2 objectives.’’. 

3 (b) EXEMPTION FROM STATE AGENCY REQUIRE4 MENT.—Section 201 of the Rural Electrification Act of 

5 1936 (7 U.S.C. 922) is amended in the last sentence by 

6 inserting ‘‘or the application involved is an application de7 scribed in section 208’’ before the period at the end. 

8 (c) DEFINITION OF RURAL AREA.—Section 203(b) of 

9 the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 924(b)) 

10 is amended by striking ‘‘5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘20,000’’. 

11 SEC. 3. RURAL BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT. 

12 (a) AWARD OF GRANTS.—Section 601 of the Rural 

13 Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘loans and 

16 loan guarantees’’ and inserting ‘‘loans, loan guaran17 tees, and grants’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (c)— 

19 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

20 ‘‘AND LOAN GUARANTEES’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘LOAN GUARANTEES, AND GRANTS’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, and 

23 may make grants,’’ after ‘‘loans’’; and 

24 (C) in paragraph (2)— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4160 IH

1 (i) in the matter preceding subpara2 graph (A), by striking ‘‘loans or loan guar3 antees’’ and inserting ‘‘loans, loan guaran4 tees, or grants’’; 

5 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 

6 (I) by striking ‘‘loan and loan 

7 guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan 

8 guarantee, and grant’’; and 

9 (II) by striking ‘‘loans and loan 

10 guarantees’’ and inserting ‘‘loans, 

11 loan guarantees, and grants’’; and 

12 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

13 ‘‘loans or loan guarantees’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘loans, loan guarantees, or grants’’; 

15 (3) in subsection (d)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

17 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

18 by striking ‘‘loan or loan guarantee’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, or grant’’; 

20 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘loan’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘loan or grant’’; and 

22 (iii) in clause (iii)— 

23 (I) by striking ‘‘loan’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘loan or grant’’; and 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4160 IH

1 (II) by striking ‘‘loan made or 

2 guaranteed’’ and inserting ‘‘loan or 

3 grant made or loan guaranteed’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (i) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 

6 preceding clause (i)— 

7 (I) by inserting ‘‘or the funds re8 ceived through a grant made’’ after 

9 ‘‘guaranteed’’; and 

10 (II) by striking ‘‘loan or loan 

11 guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan 

12 guarantee, or grant’’; and 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘loan or loan guarantee’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, or grant’’; 

16 (C) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘loan 

17 or loan guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan 

18 guarantee, or grant’’; 

19 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘loan or 

20 loan guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guar21 antee, or grant’’; 

22 (E) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter 

23 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘loan or loan 

24 guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, 

25 or grant’’; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4160 IH

1 (F) in paragraph (6)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘loan or loan guar3 antee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guar4 antee, or grant’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘loan involved’’ and in6 serting ‘‘loan or grant involved’’; and 

7 (G) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘loan’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘loan or grant’’; 

9 (4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘loan or loan 

10 guarantee’’ and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, or 

11 grant’’; 

12 (5) in subsection (j)— 

13 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

14 by striking ‘‘loan and loan guarantee’’ and in15 serting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, and grant’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘loans’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘loans or grants’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘loan’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘loan or grant’’; 

21 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

23 ‘‘loan’’ and inserting ‘‘loan or grant’’; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 4160 IH

1 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘loans and loan guarantees’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘loans, loan guarantees, and grants’’; and 

4 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

5 ‘‘loans and loan guarantees’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘loans, loan guarantees, and grants’’; and 

7 (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘loan’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘loan or grant’’; 

9 (6) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as 

10 subsections (l) and (m), respectively; 

11 (7) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol12 lowing new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(k) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT.—The recipi14 ent of a grant under this section shall provide funds, in15 kind contributions, or a combination of both, from sources 

16 other than funds provided through such grant in an 

17 amount that is at least equal to 10 percent of the amount 

18 of such grant.’’; 

19 (8) in subsection (l) (as so redesignated)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section’’ 

21 and all that follows through ‘‘expended.’’ and 

22 inserting the following: ‘‘section— 

23 ‘‘(A) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

24 2008 through 2015, to remain available until 

25 expended; and 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 4160 IH

1 ‘‘(B) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

2 2016 through 2020, to remain available until 

3 expended.’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

5 ‘‘loans and loan guarantees’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘loans, loan guarantees, and grants’’ each place 

7 it appears in clauses (i) and (ii); and 

8 (9) in subsection (m) (as so redesignated)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘loan or loan guarantee’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘loan, loan guarantee, or grant’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘2020’’. 

14 (b) PRIORITY FOR SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

15 BROADBAND SERVICE.—Paragraph (2) of section 601(c) 

16 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 

17 950bb(c)), as amended by subsection (a), is further 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

20 the end; 

21 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

22 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub24 paragraph: 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 4160 IH

1 ‘‘(E) give priority to applicants that offer 

2 in the applications of the applicants to provide 

3 support for mutijurisdictional projects for the 

4 development of broadband service in rural areas 

5 that are developed through the collaboration 

6 and participation of multiple stakeholders in the 

7 service area of such a project, including State, 

8 local, and tribal governments, nonprofit institu9 tions, institutions of higher education, and pri10 vate entities.’’. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS