I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8709 

To appropriate funds for the Federal Communications Commission’s ‘‘rip 

and replace’’ program and Affordable Connectivity Program, to improve 

the Affordable Connectivity Program, to require a spectrum auction, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2024 

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

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To appropriate funds for the Federal Communications Commission’s ‘‘rip and replace’’ program and Affordable 

Connectivity Program, to improve the Affordable 

Connectivity Program, to require a spectrum auction, 

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 ‘‘Saving Americans’ Val5 uable Earnings on the National ACP Act’’ or the ‘‘SAVE 

6 On ACP Act’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8709 IH

1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL ‘‘RIP AND REPLACE’’ FUNDING. 

2 (a) INCREASE IN EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—Section 

3 4(k) of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks 

4 Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1603(k)) is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘$1,900,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$4,980,000,000’’. 

6 (b) APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS.—There is appro7 priated to the Federal Communications Commission for 

8 fiscal year 2024, out of amounts in the Treasury not oth9 erwise appropriated, $3,080,000,000, to remain available 

10 until expended, to carry out section 4 of the Secure and 

11 Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 

12 U.S.C. 1603). 

13 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PRO14 GRAM. 

15 (a) IMPROVING VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.— 

16 (1) REQUIRED USE OF NATIONAL VERIFIER TO

17 DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY.—Section 904 of division 

18 N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (47 

19 U.S.C. 1752) is amended— 

20 (A) in subsection (a)(6)(C), by striking ‘‘or 

21 the participating provider verifies eligibility 

22 under subsection (a)(2)(B)’’; and 

23 (B) in subsection (b)(2), by striking 

24 ‘‘shall’’ and all that follows and inserting the 

25 following: ‘‘shall use the National Verifier or 

26 National Lifeline Accountability Database.’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8709 IH

1 (2) REPEAL OF ELIGIBILITY THROUGH A PRO2 VIDER’S EXISTING LOW-INCOME PROGRAM.—Section 

3 904(a)(6) of division N of the Consolidated Appro4 priations Act, 2021 (47 U.S.C. 1752(a)(6)) is 

5 amended— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (C), by adding ‘‘or’’ 

7 at the end; 

8 (B) by striking subparagraph (D); and 

9 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 

10 subparagraph (D). 

11 (3) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY THROUGH THE

12 COMMUNITY ELIGIBILITY PROVISION OF THE FREE

13 LUNCH PROGRAM AND THE FREE SCHOOL BREAK14 FAST PROGRAM.—Section 904(a)(6) of division N of 

15 the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (47 

16 U.S.C. 1752(a)(6)) is amended by striking subpara17 graph (B) and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(B) at least 1 member of the household— 

19 ‘‘(i) is eligible for and receives— 

20 ‘‘(I) free or reduced price lunch 

21 under the school lunch program estab22 lished under the Richard B. Russell 

23 National School Lunch Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); or 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8709 IH

1 ‘‘(II) free or reduced price break2 fast under the school breakfast pro3 gram established under section 4 of 

4 the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

5 U.S.C. 1773); and 

6 ‘‘(ii) attends a school the local edu7 cational agency of which does not elect to 

8 receive special assistance payments under 

9 section 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Rus10 sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 1759a(a)(1)(F)).’’. 

12 (4) REDUCTION OF ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS.— 

13 Section 904(a)(6)(A) of division N of the Consoli14 dated Appropriations Act, 2021 (47 U.S.C. 

15 1752(a)(6)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘except that’’ 

16 and all that follows and inserting a semicolon. 

17 (5) EFFECTIVE DATE; RULES.— 

18 (A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

19 (i) the terms ‘‘affordable connectivity 

20 benefit’’, ‘‘Commission’’, ‘‘eligible house21 hold’’, and ‘‘participating provider’’ have 

22 the meanings given those terms in section 

23 904(a) of division N of the Consolidated 

24 Appropriations Act, 2021 (47 U.S.C. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8709 IH

1 1752(a)), as amended by this subsection; 

2 and 

3 (ii) the term ‘‘Affordable Connectivity 

4 Program’’ means the program established 

5 under section 904(b)(1) of division N of 

6 the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

7 (47 U.S.C. 1752(b)(1)). 

8 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as pro9 vided in subparagraph (C), the amendments 

10 made by this subsection shall take effect on the 

11 date of enactment of this Act. 

12 (C) ENROLLED HOUSEHOLDS.—A house13 hold that received the affordable connectivity 

14 benefit as of April 30, 2024, but is no longer 

15 an eligible household by reason of the amend16 ments made by this subsection shall nonetheless 

17 be treated an eligible household until the date 

18 that is 180 days after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act. 

20 (D) UPDATING RULES.—Not later than 

21 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act, the Commission shall update the rules of 

23 the Commission relating to the Affordable 

24 Connectivity Program to implement the amend25 ments made by this subsection. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8709 IH

1 (E) RE-CERTIFICATION.—During the pe2 riod beginning on the date on which the Com3 mission updates the rules under subparagraph 

4 (D) and ending on the date that is 240 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, a par6 ticipating provider or the Administrator of the 

7 Universal Service Administrative Company, as 

8 applicable, shall re-certify the eligibility of a 

9 household for the Affordable Connectivity Pro10 gram in accordance with section 54.1806(f) of 

11 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

12 successor regulation, based on the amendments 

13 made by this subsection. 

14 (b) REPEAL OF AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PRO15 GRAM DEVICE SUBSIDY.—Section 904 of division N of the 

16 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (47 U.S.C. 1752) 

17 is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) by striking paragraph (4); and 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (5) 

21 through (11) as paragraphs (4) through (10), 

22 respectively; and 

23 (2) in subsection (b)— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 8709 IH

1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, or an 

2 affordable connectivity benefit and a connected 

3 device,’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sub5 section (b)(6)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

6 (b)(5)(C)’’; 

7 (C) by striking paragraph (5); 

8 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 

9 through (15) as paragraphs (5) through (14), 

10 respectively; 

11 (E) by amending paragraph (5), as so re12 designated, to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(5) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—To receive a 

14 reimbursement under paragraph (4), a participating 

15 provider shall certify to the Commission that each 

16 eligible household for which the participating pro17 vider is seeking reimbursement for providing an 

18 internet service offering discounted by the affordable 

19 connectivity benefit— 

20 ‘‘(A) will not be required to pay an early 

21 termination fee if such eligible household elects 

22 to enter into a contract to receive such internet 

23 service offering if such household later termi24 nates such contract; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 8709 IH

1 ‘‘(B) was not, after December 27, 2020, 

2 subject to a mandatory waiting period for such 

3 internet service offering based on having pre4 viously received broadband internet access serv5 ice from such participating provider; and 

6 ‘‘(C) will otherwise be subject to the par7 ticipating provider’s generally applicable terms 

8 and conditions as applied to other customers.’’; 

9 (F) in paragraph (11), as so redesig10 nated— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

12 ‘‘a connected device or a reimbursement 

13 for’’; 

14 (ii) by striking subparagraph (E); 

15 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

16 (F) and (G) as subparagraphs (E) and 

17 (F), respectively; and 

18 (iv) in subparagraph (F), as so redes19 ignated, by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(6)’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(5)’’; and 

21 (G) in paragraph (13), as so redesignated, 

22 by striking ‘‘paragraph (12)’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘paragraph (11)’’. 

24 (c) ANTIFRAUD CONTROLS, PERFORMANCE GOALS, 

25 AND MEASURES.—Section 904 of division N of the ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jul 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8709.IH H8709

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 8709 IH

1 solidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (47 U.S.C. 1752) is 

2 amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(k) ANTIFRAUD CONTROLS, PERFORMANCE GOALS, 

4 AND MEASURES.— 

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

6 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

7 Commission shall develop and implement antifraud 

8 controls, performance goals, and performance meas9 ures for the Affordable Connectivity Program, and 

10 in doing so, shall consider the recommendations sub11 mitted by the Comptroller General of the United 

12 States to the Commission in the report entitled ‘Af13 fordable Broadband: FCC Could Improve Perform14 ance Goals and Measures, Consumer Outreach, and 

15 Fraud Risk Management’, publicly released January 

16 25, 2023 (GAO–23–105399).’’. 

17 (d) REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS.—Not later than 1 

18 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector 

19 General of the Federal Communications Commission shall 

20 submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

21 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on En22 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a re23 port analyzing the effects of this section, including the 

24 amendments made by this section, with respect to improv25 ing the efficiency and quality of the Affordable 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 8709 IH

1 Connectivity Program established under section 904 of di2 vision N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (47 

3 U.S.C. 1752). 

4 (e) APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS.—Section 904(i)(2) 

5 of division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

6 2021 (47 U.S.C. 1752(i)(2)) is amended— 

7 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AP8 PROPRIATION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPROPRIATIONS’’; 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘There is’’ and inserting the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(A) FISCAL YEAR 2021.—There is’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(B) FISCAL YEAR 2024.—There is appro14 priated to the Affordable Connectivity Fund, 

15 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

16 appropriated, $6,000,000,000 for fiscal year 

17 2024, to remain available until expended.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. REAUCTION OF CERTAIN LICENSES. 

19 (a) FCC REAUCTION AUTHORITY.—Not later than 2 

20 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

21 Communications Commission, without regard to whether 

22 the authority of the Commission under paragraph (11) of 

23 section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

24 U.S.C. 309(j)) has expired— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 8709 IH

1 (1) shall initiate 1 or more systems of competi2 tive bidding under that section to grant licenses 

3 for— 

4 (A) the bands referred to by the Commis5 sion as the ‘‘AWS–3 bands’’; and 

6 (B) any other unassigned spectrum bands 

7 with respect to which the Commission pre8 viously offered licenses in competitive bidding, 

9 as determined appropriate by the Commission; 

10 and 

11 (2) shall initiate 1 or more systems of competi12 tive bidding under that section to grant licenses for 

13 any unassigned spectrum bands, other than the 

14 bands auctioned under paragraph (1), with respect 

15 to which the Commission— 

16 (A) previously offered licenses in competi17 tive bidding; and 

18 (B) determines there is sufficient current 

19 demand. 

20 (b) COMPLETION OF REAUCTION.—The Federal 

21 Communications Commission shall complete each system 

22 of competitive bidding described in subsection (a), includ23 ing receiving payments, processing applications, and 

24 granting licenses, without regard to whether the authority 

25 of the Commission under paragraph (11) of section 309(j) 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 8709 IH

1 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) 

2 has expired. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS