I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4529 

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a program 

to make grants to States to inform Medicaid enrollees and SNAP participants of potential eligibility for the Lifeline program of the Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a program to make grants to States to inform Medicaid enrollees and SNAP participants of potential eligibility for the Lifeline program of the Commission. 

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 ‘‘Promoting Access to 

5 Broadband Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIFELINE ENROLLMENT OUTREACH GRANTS. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

2 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

3 (2) COVERED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘‘cov4 ered individuals’’ means— 

5 (A) in the case of a State applying for a 

6 grant to inform Medicaid enrollees of potential 

7 Lifeline program eligibility, Medicaid enrollees; 

8 (B) in the case of a State applying for a 

9 grant to inform SNAP participants of potential 

10 Lifeline program eligibility, SNAP participants; 

11 and 

12 (C) in the case of a State applying for a 

13 grant to inform both Medicaid enrollees and 

14 SNAP participants of potential Lifeline pro15 gram eligibility, Medicaid enrollees and SNAP 

16 participants. 

17 (3) ELIGIBLE-BUT-NOT-ENROLLED.—The term 

18 ‘‘eligible-but-not-enrolled’’ means, with respect to an 

19 individual, that the individual is eligible for the Life20 line program but is not enrolled in the Lifeline pro21 gram. 

22 (4) LIFELINE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Lifeline 

23 program’’ means the Lifeline program of the Com24 mission. 


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1 (5) MEDICAID ENROLLEE.—The term ‘‘Med2 icaid enrollee’’ means, with respect to a State, an in3 dividual enrolled in the State plan under title XIX 

4 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) 

5 or a waiver of that plan. 

6 (6) REACH.—The term ‘‘reach’’ means, with re7 spect to an individual, to inform the individual of po8 tential eligibility for the Lifeline program and to 

9 provide the individual with information about the 

10 Lifeline program, as described in subsection (e). 

11 (7) SNAP PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘SNAP 

12 participant’’ means an individual who is a member 

13 of a household that participates in the supplemental 

14 nutrition assistance program under the Food and 

15 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 

16 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 

17 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

18 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

19 United States, and each federally recognized Indian 

20 Tribe. 

21 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission shall estab22 lish a competitive program to make grants to States to 

23 inform Medicaid enrollees or SNAP participants, or both, 

24 of potential eligibility for the Lifeline program. 

25 (c) APPLICATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may only 

2 award a grant under this section to a State that 

3 submits an application at such time, in such form, 

4 and with such information and assurances as the 

5 Commission may require. 

6 (2) MATTERS REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED.— 

7 An application submitted by a State under para8 graph (1) shall include— 

9 (A) the number of covered individuals in 

10 the State; 

11 (B) a plan for the activities that the State 

12 will conduct using grant funds, including a list 

13 of each agency within the State that will assist 

14 in carrying out those activities; and 

15 (C) an estimate of the percentage of eligi16 ble-but-not-enrolled individuals in the State who 

17 will be reached by those activities. 

18 (d) SELECTION.— 

19 (1) MINIMUM OF 5 STATES.—The Commission 

20 shall award grants under this section to not fewer 

21 than 5 States. 

22 (2) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In award23 ing grants under this section, the Commission shall 

24 give favorable consideration— 


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1 (A) to States that have higher numbers of 

2 covered individuals; and 

3 (B) to States proposing, in the plans sub4 mitted under subsection (c)(2)(B), to conduct 

5 activities that have the potential to reach higher 

6 percentages of eligible-but-not-enrolled individ7 uals in those States, as determined by the Com8 mission, taking into consideration the estimates 

9 submitted under subsection (c)(2)(C). 

10 (3) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In awarding 

11 grants under this section, the Commission shall, to 

12 the maximum extent practicable, select States from 

13 different geographic regions of the United States. 

14 (e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 

16 grant under this section shall use grant funds, in ac17 cordance with the plan included in the application of 

18 the State under subsection (c)(2)(B), to— 

19 (A) inform Medicaid enrollees or SNAP 

20 participants, or both, and organizations or 

21 agencies that serve those individuals, as the 

22 case may be under the terms of the grant 

23 awarded to the State, of potential eligibility for 

24 the Lifeline program; 


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1 (B) provide those enrollees or participants, 

2 or both, as the case may be, with information 

3 about the Lifeline program, including— 

4 (i) how to apply for the Lifeline pro5 gram; and 

6 (ii) a description of the prohibition on 

7 more than 1 subscriber in each household 

8 receiving a service provided under the Life9 line program; and 

10 (C) partner with nonprofit and community11 based organizations to provide those enrollees 

12 or participants, or both, as the case may be, 

13 with assistance applying for the Lifeline pro14 gram and information about product and tech15 nology choices. 

16 (2) MULTIPLE STATE AGENCIES.—A State that 

17 receives a grant under this section may provide 

18 grant funds to one or more agencies located within 

19 the State to carry out the activities under the grant. 

20 (f) OUTREACH TO STATES REGARDING GRANT PRO21 GRAM.—Before accepting applications for the grant pro22 gram established under this section, the Commission shall 

23 conduct outreach to States to ensure that States are aware 

24 of the grant program and how to apply for a grant under 

25 the grant program. 


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1 (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

3 establishing the grant program under this section, 

4 the Commission shall submit to Congress a report 

5 evaluating the effectiveness of the grant program. 

6 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

7 paragraph (1) shall include— 

8 (A) the number of individuals notified of 

9 Lifeline program eligibility by States receiving 

10 grants under this section; 

11 (B) the number of new applicants to the 

12 Lifeline program from States receiving grants 

13 under this section, including the number of 

14 those applicants whose Lifeline program appli15 cations were approved and the number of those 

16 applicants whose Lifeline program applications 

17 were denied; and 

18 (C) the cost-effectiveness of the grant pro19 gram established under this section. 

20 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such 

22 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section for 

23 the first 5 full fiscal years beginning after the establish24 ment of the grant program under this section. 

Æ 


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