I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2060 

To provide grants to community colleges to improve the accessibility of computer labs and to provide information technology training for both students and members of the public seeking to improve their computer 

literacy and information technology skills. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2009 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut (for himself, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. 

HARE, Mr. WU, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HIMES, 

Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. SESTAK, 

Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. SABLAN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, Mr. ROSS, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. SMITH of Washington) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide grants to community colleges to improve the 

accessibility of computer labs and to provide information 

technology training for both students and members of 

the public seeking to improve their computer literacy 

and information technology skills. 

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 ‘‘Community College 

5 Technology Access Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

3 (1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu4 nity college’’ means an educational institution in any 

5 State that— 

6 (A) admits as regular students only per7 sons having a certificate of graduation from a 

8 school providing secondary education, or the 

9 recognized equivalent of such a certificate, or 

10 persons having completed a secondary school 

11 education in a home school setting that is treat12 ed as a home school or private school under 

13 State law; 

14 (B) is legally authorized within such State 

15 to provide a program of education beyond sec16 ondary education; 

17 (C) provides not less than a 2-year pro18 gram that is acceptable for full credit toward 

19 such a degree; 

20 (D) is a public or other nonprofit institu21 tion; and 

22 (E) is accredited by a nationally recognized 

23 accrediting agency or association, or if not so 

24 accredited, is an institution that has been 

25 granted preaccreditation status by such an 

26 agency or association that has been recognized 


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1 by the Secretary for the granting of 

2 preaccreditation status, and the Secretary has 

3 determined that there is satisfactory assurance 

4 that the institution will meet the accreditation 

5 standards of such an agency or association 

6 within a reasonable time. 

7 (2) COMPUTER LAB.—The term ‘‘computer lab’’ 

8 means a dedicated community college facility that 

9 provides onsite computer software, hardware, and 

10 technical support for students, faculty, and staff. 

11 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Education. 

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to the 

15 extent funds are available, award grants to commu16 nity colleges eligible under subsection (d) to improve 

17 the accessibility of computer labs and to provide in18 formation technology training for both students and 

19 members of the public seeking to improve their com20 puter literacy and information technology skills. 

21 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—A community college 

23 receiving a grant award under this Act shall use 

24 funds for the maintenance, administration, and 


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1 improvement of computer labs, which in2 cludes— 

3 (i) staffing facilities; 

4 (ii) purchasing computer equipment, 

5 which includes hardware and software; 

6 (iii) maintaining, repairing, and re7 placing technology equipment; 

8 (iv) maintaining and securing facili9 ties; and 

10 (v) providing utilities for the facilities 

11 and computer equipment. 

12 (B) ADDITIONAL USES WITH AUTHORIZA13 TION.—A community college receiving a grant 

14 award under this Act may use funds to expand 

15 or build a computer lab facility by submitting 

16 an application to and receiving authorization 

17 from the Secretary. 

18 (c) APPLICATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A community college seeking 

20 a grant award under this Act shall submit an appli21 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such man22 ner, and containing such information and assurances 

23 as the Secretary may require. 


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1 (2) PROPOSED USE.—A community college shall 

2 include in the application its proposed use of funds 

3 from the grant award. 

4 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—A community college is eligible for 

5 a grant award under this Act if its application dem6 onstrates that it will— 

7 (1) keep a computer lab open not less than 10 

8 hours on weekends to members of the public; 

9 (2) keep a computer lab open not less than 20 

10 hours on weekday evenings to members of the pub11 lic, but if any computer lab is open more than 10 

12 hours on weekends as required under paragraph (1), 

13 each additional hour above 10 shall reduce the re14 quired hours under this paragraph; 

15 (3) provide lab instruction (by an employee of 

16 a community college who is capable of providing 

17 basic computer instruction) to members of the public 

18 for hours that the computer lab is open under para19 graphs (1) and (2); and 

20 (4) offer computer-related training at no charge 

21 to members of the public for hours that the com22 puter lab is open under paragraphs (1) and (2). 

23 (e) GRANT AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall deter24 mine the amount of the grant award based on the applica25 tions received. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORTS. 

2 (a) ANNUAL REPORT BY A COMMUNITY COLLEGE.— 

3 For each fiscal year that a community college receives a 

4 grant award under this Act, the community college shall 

5 submit to the Secretary, by a date determined by the Sec6 retary, a report that contains a review and evaluation of 

7 the computer lab, including its costs, hours of operation, 

8 and amount of users. 

9 (b) REPORT BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall 

10 submit annually to Congress a report on the grant pro11 gram, including the number of grant awards allocated and 

12 the approximate number of persons served by each com13 puter lab receiving funds under this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

16 this Act $125,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009 

17 to 2013. 

Æ 


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