II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2654 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish the Community 

Connect Grant Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish 

the Community Connect Grant Program, 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 ‘‘Community Connect 

5 Grant Program Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY CONNECT GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 Title VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 

8 U.S.C. 950bb et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 604. COMMUNITY CONNECT GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE BROADBAND SERVICE.—The 

4 term ‘eligible broadband service’ means broadband 

5 service, as defined in section 601, that operates at 

6 or above the applicable minimum download and 

7 upload speeds established by the Federal Commu8 nications Commission in defining the term ‘advanced 

9 telecommunications capability’ for purposes of sec10 tion 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 

11 U.S.C. 1302). 

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible en14 tity’ means a legally organized entity that— 

15 ‘‘(i) is— 

16 ‘‘(I) an incorporated organiza17 tion; 

18 ‘‘(II) an Indian Tribe or Tribal 

19 organization; 

20 ‘‘(III) a State; 

21 ‘‘(IV) a unit of local government; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(V) any other legal entity, in24 cluding a cooperative, a private cor25 poration, or a limited liability comVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Apr 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2654.IS S2654

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1 pany, that is organized on a for-profit 

2 or a not-for-profit basis; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) has the legal capacity and au4 thority to enter into a contract, to comply 

5 with applicable Federal laws, and to own 

6 and operate broadband facilities, as pro7 posed in the application submitted by the 

8 entity for a grant under the Program. 

9 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible en10 tity’ does not include— 

11 ‘‘(i) an individual; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a partnership. 

13 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 

14 the Community Connect Grant Program established 

15 under subsection (b). 

16 ‘‘(4) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ has 

17 the meaning given the term in section 601(b)(3)(A). 

18 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab19 lish a program, to be known as the ‘Community Connect 

20 Grant Program’, to provide grants to eligible entities to 

21 finance broadband transmission in rural areas. 

22 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—An eligible entity that 

23 receives a grant under the Program shall use the grant 

24 to carry out a project that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) provides eligible broadband service to, 

2 within the proposed eligible broadband service area 

3 described in the application submitted by the eligible 

4 entity— 

5 ‘‘(A) each essential community facility 

6 funded under section 306(a) of the Consoli7 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 

8 U.S.C. 1926(a)); and 

9 ‘‘(B) any required facilities necessary to 

10 offer that eligible broadband service to each res11 idential and business customer; and 

12 ‘‘(2) for not less than 2 years— 

13 ‘‘(A) furnishes free wireless eligible 

14 broadband service to a community center de15 scribed in subsection (d)(1)(B); 

16 ‘‘(B) provides not fewer than 2 computer 

17 access points for that free wireless eligible 

18 broadband service; and 

19 ‘‘(C) covers the cost of bandwidth to pro20 vide free eligible broadband service to each es21 sential community facility funded under section 

22 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

23 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)) within the 

24 proposed eligible broadband service area deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Apr 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2654.IS S2654

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1 scribed in the application submitted by the eli2 gible entity. 

3 ‘‘(d) USES OF GRANT FUNDS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re5 ceives a grant under the Program may use the grant 

6 for— 

7 ‘‘(A) the construction, acquisition, or leas8 ing of facilities (including spectrum), land, or 

9 buildings to deploy eligible broadband service; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) the improvement, expansion, con12 struction, or acquisition of a community center 

13 within the proposed eligible broadband service 

14 area described in the application submitted by 

15 the eligible entity. 

16 ‘‘(2) INELIGIBLE USES.—An eligible entity that 

17 receives a grant under the Program shall not use the 

18 grant for— 

19 ‘‘(A) the duplication of any existing eligible 

20 broadband service provided by another entity; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(B) operating expenses, except as pro23 vided in— 


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1 ‘‘(i) subsection (c)(2)(C) with respect 

2 to free wireless eligible broadband service; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) paragraph (1)(A) with respect to 

5 spectrum. 

6 ‘‘(3) FREE ACCESS FOR COMMUNITY CEN7 TERS.—Of the amounts provided to an eligible entity 

8 under a grant under the Program, the eligible entity 

9 shall use to carry out paragraph (1)(B) not greater 

10 than the lesser of— 

11 ‘‘(A) 10 percent; and 

12 ‘‘(B) $150,000. 

13 ‘‘(e) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re15 ceives a grant under the Program shall provide a 

16 cash contribution in an amount that is not less than 

17 15 percent of the amount of the grant. 

18 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A cash contribution de19 scribed in paragraph (1)— 

20 ‘‘(A) shall be used solely for the project for 

21 which the eligible entity receives a grant under 

22 the Program; and 

23 ‘‘(B) shall not include any Federal funds, 

24 unless a Federal statute specifically provides 


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1 that those Federal funds may be considered to 

2 be from a non-Federal source. 

3 ‘‘(f) APPLICATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

5 grant under the Program, an eligible entity shall 

6 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 

7 in such manner, and containing such information as 

8 the Secretary may require. 

9 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—An application submitted 

10 by an eligible entity under paragraph (1) shall in11 clude documentation sufficient to demonstrate the 

12 availability of funds to satisfy the requirement of 

13 subsection (e). 

14 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

16 $50,000,000 for each fiscal year.’’. 

Æ 


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