II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4285 

To establish a pilot program through which the Institute of Museum and 

Library Services shall allocate funds to States for the provision of internet-connected devices to libraries. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2020 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program through which the Institute 

of Museum and Library Services shall allocate funds 

to States for the provision of internet-connected devices 

to libraries. 

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 Hotspots and Online 

5 Technology and Services Procurement for our Tribes and 

6 States Act’’ or the ‘‘HOTSPOTS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERNET HOTSPOT PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘library’’, 

3 ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State library administrative agency’’ have 

4 the meanings given those terms in section 213 of the Mu5 seum and Library Services Act (20 U.S.C. 9122). 

6 (b) PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

7 (1) GRANTS TO STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.— 

8 Not later than 21 days after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, the Director of the Institute of Museum 

10 and Library Services shall establish a 2-year pilot 

11 program, through which the Director shall— 

12 (A) reserve 2.5 percent of the amounts ap13 propriated to carry out this section to make 

14 grants to Indian Tribes and to organizations 

15 that primarily serve and represent Native Ha16 waiians (as the term is defined in section 6207 

17 of the Native Hawaiian Education Act) to en18 able such tribes and organizations to carry out 

19 the activities described in subsection (c); and 

20 (B) allocate grant funds to States in ac21 cordance with paragraph (2) to enable States, 

22 through the State library administrative agency, 

23 as appropriate, to carry out the activities de24 scribed in subsection (c). 

25 (2) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.— 

26 (A) MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

2 this subsection, the minimum allotment for 

3 each State shall be $1,600,000, except that 

4 the minimum allotment shall be $160,000 

5 in the case of the United States Virgin Is6 lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Com7 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Is8 lands, the Republic of the Marshall Is9 lands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 

10 and the Republic of Palau. 

11 (ii) RATABLE REDUCTION.—Notwith12 standing clause (i), if the sum appro13 priated to carry out this section is insuffi14 cient to fully satisfy the requirement of 

15 clause (i), each of the minimum allotments 

16 under such clause shall be reduced ratably. 

17 (B) REMAINDER.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—From the remain19 der of any sums not reserved or allotted 

20 under subparagraph (A), the Director shall 

21 award grants to each State in an amount 

22 that bears the same relation to such re23 mainder as the population of the State 

24 bears to the population of all States. 


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1 (ii) DATA.—The population of each 

2 State and of all the States shall be deter3 mined by the Director on the basis of the 

4 most recent data available from the Bu5 reau of the Census. 

6 (3) GRANTS FOR INDIAN TRIBES.—An Indian 

7 tribe that is eligible for support under section 261 

8 of the Library Services and Technology Act (20 

9 U.S.C. 9161) may designate a tribal library or tribal 

10 library consortium as a library or consortium that is 

11 eligible for grant funds under this section, without 

12 regard to whether the library or library consortium 

13 is eligible for assistance from a State Library Ad14 ministrative Agency under the Library Services and 

15 Technology Act (20 U.S.C. 9121 et seq.), if the li16 brary or library consortium is eligible for support 

17 from an Indian tribe under such section 261. 

18 (c) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Each State, Indian 

19 Tribe, or other entity receiving a grant, contract, or coop20 erative agreement under this section shall use funding 

21 under this section to— 

22 (1) expand digital network access by purchasing 

23 and distributing internet-connected devices, such as 

24 hotspots, to libraries in low-income and rural areas 

25 so that those libraries can allow individuals to borVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4285.IS S4285

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1 row internet-connected devices for home use and in2 stall or upgrade public wi-fi access points for use on 

3 or near library grounds; 

4 (2) provide libraries with funds to pay the other 

5 expenses associated with such devices and services, 

6 such as processing, training, associated connectivity, 

7 hardware and support, and other necessary expenses 

8 related to the retention of these devices and provi9 sion of these services; and 

10 (3) encourage existing and new partnerships be11 tween State and local governments, libraries, non12 profit entities, agencies including the Federal Com13 munications Commission, and telecommunication, 

14 broadband, and internet service providers to coordi15 nate the distribution of hotspots and other internet16 connected devices and services. 

17 (d) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, OR COOPERATIVE AGREE18 MENTS.—From amounts appropriated to carry out this 

19 section, $1,000,000 shall be made available for the Direc20 tor of the Institute of Museum and Library Services for 

21 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements with Federal 

22 agencies, public and private organizations, and other enti23 ties determined to be eligible by the Director to enable 

24 those agencies, organizations, and entities to carry out the 

25 activities described in subsection (c). 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $160,000,000. 

Æ 


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