I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3517

To establish a program to assist States and local governments for the conduct 

of electronic governance transactions at libraries and elementary and 

secondary schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2005

Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To establish a program to assist States and local governments for the conduct of electronic governance transactions at libraries and elementary and secondary 

schools, 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 ‘‘Greater Access to E5 Governance Act’’ or the ‘‘GATE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act to establish a grant pro8 gram to provide funds to State and local governments to 
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1 enable them to deploy broadband computer networks for 

2 the conduct of electronic governance transactions by citi3 zens in local schools and libraries. 

4 SEC. 3. GRANT AUTHORIZATION. 

5 (a) TERMS FOR AUTHORIZATION.—From the funds 

6 appropriated under section 6, the Secretary shall make 

7 grants to State governments and units of local government 

8 to carry out activities consistent with subsection (b). Such 

9 grants shall— 

10 (1) be awarded to urban and rural governments 

11 that are deploying or plan to deploy community12 based schools or communities of learning which will 

13 utilize electronic governance transactions processing 

14 systems; and 

15 (2) contain such other provision as the Sec16 retary considers necessary pursuant to this Act. 

17 (b) USE OF GRANT PROCEEDS.—Grants made avail18 able to a State government or unit of local government 

19 under this Act may be used— 

20 (1) to hire contractors or non-profit organiza21 tions to deploy and manage the broadband computer 

22 networks needed to permit citizens to conduct gov23 ernance transactions electronically rather than on 

24 paper; 
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1 (2) to acquire broadband infrastructure, com2 puters, and other equipment for such networks; and 

3 (3) to acquire related software and services to 

4 support such networks. 

5 SEC. 4. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS. 

6 (a) GRANT ALLOCATION CRITERIA.—Under the cri7 teria set forth under this section, the Secretary shall de8 cide which State governments and units of local govern9 ments will be awarded grants to carry out activity con10 sistent with section 3(b). 

11 (b) ALLOCATION CRITERIA.—Such criteria shall— 

12 (1) require cost-benefit analysis for deployment 

13 of broadband infrastructure, network and equip14 ment; 

15 (2) require that the Federal share of the cost 

16 of any such activity not exceed 60 percent; 

17 (3) require documentation that clearly defines 

18 preexisting user fee-driven government transactions 

19 and service delivery processing systems, paper or 

20 electronic, that can be readily deployed to the World 

21 Wide Web; 

22 (4) require documented expertise in information 

23 technology deployment by the deployment entity; 

24 (5) require deployment partnership contracts; 
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1 (6) designate grant allocation to State agencies, 

2 such as departments of education or departments of 

3 community affairs, that statutorily distribute govern4 mental resources to city, regional, and local units of 

5 government, financing authorities, and school dis6 tricts; and 

7 (7) require that any State government that re8 ceives a grant under this Act will ensure that at 

9 least 50 percent of such grant will be used for the 

10 benefit of rural areas in such State. 

11 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

12 The Secretary may issue such regulations as may be 

13 necessary and appropriate to carry out this Act. 

14 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to make 

16 grants under this Act such sums as may be necessary for 

17 fiscal year 2003 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

18 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

19 For the purposes of this Act: 

20 (1) BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

21 ‘‘broadband infrastructure’’ means fiber optic, dig22 ital subscriber lines (DSL), cable transmission, 

23 broadband wireless, and broadband satellite medi24 ums. 
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1 (2) ELECTRONIC GOVERNANCE TRANS2 ACTION.—The term ‘‘electronic governance trans3 action’’ means any electronic transaction between a 

4 citizen and an agency of State or local government, 

5 exercised both by the public through the democratic 

6 process, and by the executive, legislative, and judi7 cial branches of government in their management 

8 and oversight of operations, and includes issuing of 

9 marriage licenses, building permits, professional li10 censes, or other licenses, registrations, permits, 

11 deeds, titles, certificates, or records, and providing 

12 of government services, including electronic benefits 

13 transfer, technology skills training, distance or life14 long learning, business and industry educational 

15 needs, and other relevant government services. 

16 (3) DEPLOYMENT PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT.— 

17 The term ‘‘deployment partnership contract’’ means 

18 a legally binding contract entered into by all relevant 

19 entities participating in the repayment process. 

20 (4) DEPLOYMENT ENTITY.—The term ‘‘deploy21 ment entity’’ means the State agency, local govern22 ment unit, private sector company, or nonprofit or23 ganization contracted to deploy and manage the 

24 broadband networked computer system. 
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1 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Commerce. 

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