I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1904 

To include broadband as a utility that tenants residing in federally assisted 

housing can have subsidized by the Federal Government, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2021 

Mr. BOWMAN (for himself and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 include broadband as a utility that tenants residing in 

federally assisted housing can have subsidized by the 

Federal Government, 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 ‘‘Broadband Justice Act 

5 of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the digital divide falls along racial and eco2 nomic lines; 

3 (2) during the COVID-19 pandemic, research 

4 determined that African American and Hispanic 

5 households were 1.3 to 1.4 times as likely as White 

6 households to experience limited accessibility to the 

7 internet; 

8 (3) 44 percent of low-income Americans who 

9 make less than $30,000 did not have home 

10 broadband services in 2019; and 

11 (4) low-income families and individuals living in 

12 federally assisted housing often lack access to high13 quality broadband, and monthly broadband costs can 

14 be prohibitively expensive, which limits their ability 

15 to undertake essential activities, including remote 

16 healthcare visits, school assignments, job searches, 

17 and obtaining information about supportive re18 sources. 

19 SEC. 3. UTILITY ALLOWANCES FOR FEDERALLY ASSISTED 

20 HOUSING. 

21 (a) HUD-ASSISTED HOUSING.— 

22 (1) PUBLIC HOUSING AND SECTION 8 ASSIST23 ANCE.—Section 3 of the United States Housing Act 

24 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a) is amended by adding at 

25 the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(e) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—A monthly utility allow2 ance under this Act with respect to any dwelling unit in 

3 public housing or assisted under section 8 shall include 

4 reasonable costs for broadband high-speed internet serv5 ice.’’. 

6 (2) PUBLIC HOUSING OPERATING COSTS.— 

7 Paragraph (1) of section 9(e) of the United States 

8 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(e)(1)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (J), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

11 at the end; 

12 (B) in subparagraph (K), by striking the 

13 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(L) the costs attributable to inclusion in 

16 the utility allowance for residents of public 

17 housing of an allowance for broadband high 

18 speed internet service.’’. 

19 (3) SECTION 202 SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR

20 THE ELDERLY.—Subsection (c) of section 202 of the 

21 Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(c)) is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(4) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—A monthly utility 

24 allowance with respect to any dwelling unit assisted 


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1 under this section shall include reasonable costs for 

2 broadband high-speed internet service.’’. 

3 (4) SECTION 811 SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR

4 PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.—Subsection (d) of 

5 section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Af6 fordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(d)) is amend7 ed by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(5) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—A monthly utility 

9 allowance with respect to any dwelling unit assisted 

10 under this section shall include reasonable costs for 

11 broadband high-speed internet service.’’. 

12 (5) REGULATIONS.—Not later than the expira13 tion of the 6-month period beginning on the date of 

14 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing 

15 and Urban Development shall revise the regulations 

16 of the Secretary, including sections 982.517 and 

17 5.603 and part 990 of title 24, Code of Federal Reg18 ulations, to comply with and carry out the amend19 ments made by subsections (a) and (b) of this sec20 tion, and shall develop a schedule of regional rates 

21 for broadband costs for use by public housing agen22 cies in setting reasonable costs of broadband high 

23 speed internet service. 

24 (b) RURAL ASSISTED HOUSING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 501 of the Housing 

2 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471) is amended by adding 

3 at the end the following new subsection: 

4 ‘‘(k) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—In the case of a dwell5 ing unit in any housing project assisted with a loan or 

6 grant under section 514, 515, or 516 or rental assistance 

7 under section 521, the monthly utility allowance under 

8 this title shall include reasonable costs for broadband 

9 high-speed internet service.’’. 

10 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than the expira11 tion of the 6-month period beginning on the date of 

12 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri13 culture shall revise the regulations of the Secretary, 

14 including section 3560.202 of title 7, Code of Fed15 eral Regulations, to comply with and carry out the 

16 amendment made by subsection (a) of this section. 

17 (c) LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT PROP18 ERTIES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 42(g)(2)(B)(ii) of 

20 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

21 inserting ‘‘(including any determination pursuant to 

22 section 3(e) of such Act)’’ before the comma at the 

23 end. 

24 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than the expira25 tion of the 6-month period beginning on the date of 


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1 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

2 Treasury shall revise the regulations of the Sec3 retary, including section 1.42–10 of title 26, Code of 

4 Federal Regulations, to comply with and carry out 

5 the amendment made by subsection (a) of this sec6 tion. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 

9 each fiscal year thereafter $5,000,000,000 for costs of car10 rying out the provisions added by the amendments made 

11 by this section. 

12 SEC. 4. CONNECTED COMMUNITIES GRANTS AND LOANS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 

14 Urban Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 

15 Secretary of the Treasury shall jointly carry out a grant 

16 and loan program under this section to provide access to 

17 broadband high-speed internet service to residents of fed18 erally assisted housing. 

19 (b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts made available 

20 for the program under this section may be used only for 

21 grants and loans made to further the goal of providing 

22 universal access to broadband high-speed internet service 

23 to all residents of federally assisted housing, as follows: 

24 (1) Grants, including to providers of federally 

25 assisted housing and public entities, to support 


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1 projects to provide all residents of affordable hous2 ing projects, including public housing (as such term 

3 is defined in section 3(b) of the United States Hous4 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b))) and other 

5 federally and State-assisted affordable housing 

6 projects, with access to such internet service; grant7 ees are encouraged to partner with municipal and 

8 other public or non-profit entities to support internet 

9 access and may partner with a private broadband 

10 service provider if the wiring costs charged by the 

11 private partner to the grantee and the monthly 

12 broadband costs charged to tenants do not exceed 

13 the lower comparable cost for such access within the 

14 same region. 

15 (2) Grants to public housing agencies and own16 ers of housing assisted with rental assistance under 

17 section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

18 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) for installation of such internet 

19 service, including routers, modems, and other related 

20 devices, and to provide training and support regard21 ing internet access and operating equipment. 

22 (3) Direct loans to owners of housing assisted 

23 under title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

24 1471 et seq.) or under the low-income housing tax 

25 credit program under section 42 of the Internal RevVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1904.IH H1904

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1 enue Code of 1986 for costs of installation of such 

2 internet access in such housing. 

3 (4) Grants to assist in rehabilitation activities 

4 necessary to provide wiring, other infrastructure, 

5 and other broadband assistance needs identified by 

6 housing providers and their tenants in housing de7 scribed in this subsection as necessary to provide 

8 such internet service, including tenant support serv9 ices relating to internet access, including educating 

10 tenants on how to use the internet and facilitating 

11 contact with internet service providers, except that 

12 any infrastructure or wiring upgrades performed by 

13 for-profit service providers shall include open access 

14 infrastructure. 

15 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2022 

17 through 2025 such sums as may be necessary for grants 

18 and costs (as such term is defined in section 502 of the 

19 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 661a)) of 

20 loans under this section. 

Æ 


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