I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7494 

To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

Information to establish a pilot program to increase access to internetcapable devices through public-private partnerships, to establish best 

practices for States and Indian Tribes for reducing the barriers to, 

and increasing the adoption of, broadband internet access service, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 6, 2020 

Mr. O’HALLERAN (for himself and Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish a pilot program 

to increase access to internet-capable devices through 

public-private partnerships, to establish best practices for 

States and Indian Tribes for reducing the barriers to, 

and increasing the adoption of, broadband internet access 

service, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadband Adoption 

3 and Opportunity Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INTERNET-CAPABLE DEVICE ACCESS PILOT PRO5 GRAM. 

6 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 180 days after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Sec8 retary shall establish a pilot program for the purposes of 

9 using public-private partnerships seeking to— 

10 (1) refurbish internet-capable devices; and 

11 (2) establish or carry out one or more donation, 

12 lending, or purchasing programs that increases ac13 cess to such refurbished devices to individuals that 

14 do not have internet-capable devices. 

15 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 

16 the pilot program under this section, a public-private part17 nership shall submit to the Assistant Secretary an applica18 tion, in such a form and in such a manner as the Assistant 

19 Secretary may require. 

20 (c) CRITERIA.—In determining whether to approve 

21 an application submitted by a public-private partnership 

22 under this section, the Assistant Secretary shall consider, 

23 in addition to other such criteria as the Assistant Sec24 retary determines appropriate— 

25 (1) the ability of the public-private partnership 

26 to— 


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1 (A) refurbish internet-capable devices; and 

2 (B) establish or carry out one or more do3 nation, lending, or purchasing programs that 

4 increases access to refurbished internet-capable 

5 devices to individuals that do not have internet6 capable devices; and 

7 (2) the extent to which the public-private part8 nership demonstrates in the application— 

9 (A) organizational experience in— 

10 (i) refurbishing internet-capable de11 vices; 

12 (ii) identifying individuals that do not 

13 have internet-capable devices; and 

14 (iii) providing training and end-user 

15 support to such individuals as part of a 

16 comprehensive digital inclusion program; 

17 and 

18 (B) the ability to establish or carry out one 

19 or more donation, lending, or purchasing pro20 grams that provide refurbished internet-capable 

21 devices to individuals in a county that the As22 sistant Secretary determines has a significant 

23 need for internet-capable devices. 

24 (d) DETERMINATION OF SIGNIFICANT NEED.—For 

25 the purpose of determining whether a county has a signifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7494.IH H7494

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1 cant need for internet-capable devices under subsection 

2 (c)(2)(B), the Assistant Secretary may consider relevant 

3 data provided by the American Community Survey or the 

4 Federal Communications Commission. 

5 (e) DURATION.—The Assistant Secretary shall carry 

6 out the pilot program under this section for a period not 

7 longer than 5 years. 

8 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the ter9 mination of the pilot program under this section, the As10 sistant Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Com11 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

12 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

13 Representatives, and make available to the public, a report 

14 on the efficacy of the pilot program, including— 

15 (1) any outcome measures used by the Assist16 ant Secretary to determine efficacy; 

17 (2) the efficacy of public-private partnerships 

18 participating in the pilot program under this section 

19 in— 

20 (A) refurbishing internet-capable devices; 

21 and 

22 (B) establishing or carrying out a dona23 tion, lending, or purchasing programs that pro24 vides refurbished internet-capable devices to inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7494.IH H7494

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1 dividuals that do not have internet-capable de2 vices; and 

3 (3) any barriers that prevent or hinder access 

4 to internet-capable devices, as identified by the As5 sistant Secretary. 

6 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

8 appropriated to the Assistant Secretary to carry out 

9 this section $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, which 

10 shall remain available until expended. 

11 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 5 

12 percent of the amount appropriated under para13 graph (1) shall be used for administrative expenses. 

14 (h) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP DEFINED.—In 

15 this section, the term ‘‘public-private partnership’’ means 

16 a partnership between at least two entities, which may in17 clude the following: 

18 (1) A private sector entity. 

19 (2) A nonprofit organization. 

20 (3) A library. 

21 (4) A community anchor institution. 

22 (5) A provider of broadband internet access 

23 service. 


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1 (6) An appropriate State agency (or in the case 

2 of an Indian Tribe, the tribal equivalent of an ap3 propriate State agency). 

4 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Sec7 retary shall, in consultation with the Federal Communica8 tions Commission, States and Indian Tribes, and the enti9 ties described in subsection (b), develop recommendations 

10 for States and Indian Tribes (and any political subdivi11 sions thereof, respectively) on best practices for reducing 

12 the barriers to, and increasing the adoption of, broadband 

13 internet access service within the respective State or In14 dian Tribe (or any political subdivision thereof, respec15 tively), including best practices for— 

16 (1) determining how to increase the adoption of 

17 broadband internet access service among individuals 

18 (including individuals with disabilities) in different 

19 educational, racial, ethnic, socio-economic, and age 

20 groups; 

21 (2) developing informational strategies for indi22 viduals (including individuals with disabilities) in 

23 different educational, racial, ethnic, socio-economic, 

24 and age groups that help such individuals identify, 


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1 and understand how to qualify for, low-cost 

2 broadband internet access service programs; 

3 (3) determining how to assist libraries, commu4 nity anchor institutions, or nonprofit organizations 

5 in establishing or expanding technical training pro6 grams for individuals (including individuals with dis7 abilities) in different educational, racial, ethnic, 

8 socio-economic, and age groups, to learn skills to use 

9 internet-capable devices to access services or accom10 plish tasks; and 

11 (4) identifying the appropriate data metrics to 

12 use to measure the adoption of broadband internet 

13 access service within the respective State or Indian 

14 Tribe (or political subdivision thereof, respectively). 

15 (b) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—The entities described in 

16 this subsection are as follows: 

17 (1) Community anchor institutions. 

18 (2) Libraries. 

19 (3) Appropriate State agencies. 

20 (4) State educational agencies. 

21 (5) State library administrative agencies. 

22 (6) Nonprofit organizations. 

23 (7) Cooperative organizations. 

24 (8) Private sector entities. 


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1 (9) Providers of broadband internet access serv2 ice. 

3 (10) Bureau-funded schools. 

4 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES.—In devel5 oping the best practices under subsection (a), the Assist6 ant Secretary shall identify, and include in such best prac7 tices, any resources available through the Broadband USA 

8 program of the National Telecommunications and Infor9 mation Administration that a State or Indian Tribe (or 

10 political subdivisions thereof, respectively) may use for the 

11 purpose of increasing the adoption of broadband internet 

12 access service within the respective State or Indian Tribe. 

13 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) ADOPTION OF BROADBAND INTERNET AC16 CESS SERVICE.—The term ‘‘adoption of broadband 

17 internet access service’’ means the process by which 

18 an individual— 

19 (A) develops skills necessary to accomplish 

20 common tasks using broadband internet access 

21 service; and 

22 (B) obtains daily access to the internet 

23 through broadband internet access service. 


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1 (2) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist2 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

3 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

4 (3) APPROPRIATE STATE AGENCY.—The term 

5 ‘‘appropriate State agency’’ has the meaning given 

6 the term in section 706(a) of the RAY BAUM’S Act 

7 of 2018 (47 U.S.C. 1504). 

8 (4) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 

9 The term ‘‘broadband internet access service’’ has 

10 the meaning given that term in section 8.1(b) of title 

11 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

12 regulation. 

13 (5) BUREAU-FUNDED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘bu14 reau-funded school’’ has the meaning given the term 

15 in section 1141 of the Education Amendments of 

16 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2021). 

17 (6) COMMUNITY ANCHOR INSTITUTION.—The 

18 term ‘‘community anchor institution’’ has the mean19 ing given the term in section 54.5 of title 47, Code 

20 of Federal Regulations. 

21 (7) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ has the 

22 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Ameri23 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

24 12102). 


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1 (8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

2 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

3 section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and 

4 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 

5 (9) INTERNET-CAPABLE DEVICE.—The term 

6 ‘‘internet-capable device’’ means a desktop com7 puter, laptop computer, tablet computer, or similar 

8 device that is capable of connecting to broadband 

9 internet access service, either by receiving such serv10 ice directly or through the use of Wi-Fi. 

11 (10) LIBRARY.—The term ‘‘library’’ has the 

12 meaning given the term in section 213 of the Mu13 seum and Library Services Act (20 U.S.C. 9122) in14 cluding only— 

15 (A) a public library; 

16 (B) a public elementary school or sec17 ondary school library; 

18 (C) a Tribal library; and 

19 (D) an academic library. 

20 (11) REFURBISH.—The term ‘‘refurbish’’ 

21 means the process to repair the condition of or up22 date the software of an internet-capable device in 

23 such a form and in such a manner so that such de24 vice is capable of accessing and performing tasks or 

25 services through broadband internet access service. 


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1 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 

2 States, the District of Columbia, and the territories 

3 and possessions of the United States. 

4 (13) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

5 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

6 the term in section 300.41 of title 34, Code of Fed7 eral Regulations. 

8 (14) STATE LIBRARY ADMINISTRATIVE AGEN9 CY.—The term ‘‘State library administrative agen10 cy’’ has the meaning given the term in section 213 

11 of the Museum and Library Services Act (20 U.S.C. 

12 9122). 

Æ 


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