I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 146 

To establish a grant program to support broadband-based economic 

development efforts. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2005 

Mr. MCHUGH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 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 establish a grant program to support broadband-based 

economic development efforts. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. GRANTS FOR BROADBAND-BASED ECONOMIC 

4 DEVELOPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Works and 

6 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141 et 

7 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 219. GRANTS FOR BROADBAND-BASED ECONOMIC DE2 VELOPMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

4 definitions apply: 

5 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘eligible 

6 applicant’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) a State or local government; 

8 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education; or 

9 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit economic development or10 ganization. 

11 ‘‘(2) REGION.—The term ‘region’ means an 

12 area— 

13 ‘‘(A) that is determined by the Secretary 

14 to qualify for grants under this section; and 

15 ‘‘(B) that, on the date of submission of an 

16 application for a grant under this section, meets 

17 1 or more of the criteria described in section 

18 301(a). 

19 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—On the application of an eligible ap20 plicant, the Secretary may make grants— 

21 ‘‘(1) to assess the telecommunications infra22 structure of a region; 

23 ‘‘(2) to assess the telecommunications demand 

24 in a region; and 
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1 ‘‘(3) to organize programs to boost the supply 

2 of high-speed telecommunications to a region, in3 cluding demand aggregation programs. 

4 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR GRANT.—The Secretary may 

5 make a grant under this section only if the Secretary de6 termines that the project proposed to be carried out using 

7 funds from the grant will advance high-speed tele8 communications in an area with a population of not more 

9 than 1,000,000 individuals, as determined by the Office 

10 of Management and Budget. 

11 ‘‘(d) MAXIMUM ASSISTANCE FOR EACH REGION.— 

12 Not more than $1,000,000 of the amounts made available 

13 to carry out this section may be expended in any 1 region. 

14 ‘‘(e) COST SHARING.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 

16 cost of a project carried out using funds made avail17 able under this section shall be 50 percent. 

18 ‘‘(2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—Not more than 

19 50 percent of the non-Federal share of the cost of 

20 a project carried out using funds made available 

21 under this section may be provided through in-kind 

22 contributions. 

23 ‘‘(3) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN SECTION.— 

24 Section 204 shall not apply to this section. 
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1 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $50,000,000. Such funds shall remain available until ex4 pended.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con6 tents contained in section 1(b) of the Public Works and 

7 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 

8 note) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

9 section 218 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 219. Grants for broadband-based economic development.’’. 

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