II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2018 

To provide Federal matching funding for State-level broadband programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide Federal matching funding for State-level 

broadband programs. 

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 ‘‘American Broadband 

5 Buildout Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.— 

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


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 2018 IS

1 (A) means mass-market retail service by 

2 wire or radio that provides the capability to 

3 transmit data to and receive data from all or 

4 substantially all internet endpoints, including 

5 any capabilities that are incidental to and en6 able the operation of the communications serv7 ice, but excluding dial-up internet access serv8 ice; and 

9 (B) includes any service that the Commis10 sion finds to be providing a functional equiva11 lent of the service described in subparagraph 

12 (A) or that is used to evade the protections set 

13 forth in part 8 of title 47, Code of Federal Reg14 ulations, or any successor thereto. 

15 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

16 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

17 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti18 ty’’ means— 

19 (A) a State; or 

20 (B) an entity authorized by a State to 

21 spend funds for a purpose described in section 

22 3 or 4. 

23 (4) LAST-MILE INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

24 ‘‘last-mile infrastructure’’ means infrastructure the 

25 predominant purpose of which is to provide 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 2018 IS

1 broadband internet access service to end users or 

2 end user devices, including households, businesses, 

3 community anchor institutions, public safety entities, 

4 and critical community facilities. 

5 (5) OVERBUILDING.—The term ‘‘overbuilding’’ 

6 means deploying broadband infrastructure in an 

7 area that, prior to the deployment, already had— 

8 (A) facilities capable of providing 

9 broadband internet access service at a speed of 

10 not less than 25 megabits per second for 

11 downloads and 3 megabits per second for 

12 uploads; or 

13 (B) broadband infrastructure that was 

14 built using funds from a Federal or State pro15 gram that were provided for the express pur16 pose of deploying broadband infrastructure. 

17 (6) QUALIFYING PROJECT.—The term ‘‘quali18 fying project’’ means a project— 

19 (A) to construct last-mile infrastructure 

20 that will provide broadband internet access 

21 service at a speed of not less than 25 megabits 

22 per second for downloads and 10 megabits per 

23 second for uploads in an unserved area, without 

24 engaging in overbuilding; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 2018 IS

1 (B) that is funded by a public-private part2 nership in which— 

3 (i) the State in which the project is lo4 cated provides a portion of the funds; and 

5 (ii) the private company that will pro6 vide broadband internet access service to 

7 customers connected to the last-mile infra8 structure provides not less than 25 percent 

9 of the funds. 

10 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean11 ing given the term in section 3 of the Communica12 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

13 (8) UNSERVED AREA.—The term ‘‘unserved 

14 area’’ means a census block in which broadband 

15 internet access service at a speed of not less than 25 

16 megabits per second for downloads and 3 megabits 

17 per second for uploads is not available. 

18 SEC. 3. LAST-MILE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall award 

20 grants to eligible entities for qualifying projects. 

21 (b) PRIORITIZATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), if 

23 amounts made available to carry out this section are 

24 insufficient to finance all qualifying projects for 

25 which the Commission receives an application for 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 2018 IS

1 funding under this section, the Commission shall 

2 give priority to qualifying projects in States in 

3 which, according to figure 32 in the report of the 

4 Commission entitled ‘‘Internet Access Services: Sta5 tus as of June 30, 2017’’, published in November 

6 2018— 

7 (A) fewer than 68 percent of households 

8 subscribed to fixed terrestrial broadband inter9 net access service with a speed of not less 

10 than— 

11 (i) 10 megabits per second for 

12 downloads; and 

13 (ii) 1 megabit per second for uploads; 

14 and 

15 (B) fewer than 40.5 percent of households 

16 subscribed to fixed terrestrial broadband inter17 net access service with a speed of not less 

18 than— 

19 (i) 25 megabits per second for 

20 downloads; and 

21 (ii) 3 megabits per second for uploads. 

22 (2) HIGH-COST, GEOGRAPHICALLY CHAL23 LENGED AREAS.—The Commission shall ensure that 

24 not less than 15 percent of the amounts awarded 

25 under paragraph (1) are used in areas that are highVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2018.IS S2018

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 2018 IS

1 cost and geographically challenged, as determined by 

2 the Commission. 

3 SEC. 4. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS; DIGITAL LIT4 ERACY PROGRAMS. 

5 The Commission shall award grants to eligible enti6 ties— 

7 (1) to carry out public awareness campaigns de8 signed to highlight the value and benefits of 

9 broadband internet access service, in order to in10 crease the adoption of broadband internet access 

11 service; and 

12 (2) to support digital literacy programs in areas 

13 in which a qualifying project that receives funding 

14 under section 3 is located. 

15 SEC. 5. FEDERAL SHARE. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the cost of 

17 a project, campaign, or program that receives funding 

18 under this Act shall be not more than 50 percent. 

19 (b) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—A State may use 

20 amounts received from the Secretary of Housing and 

21 Urban Development under the community development 

22 block grant program under title I of the Housing and 

23 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et 

24 seq.), amounts received from the Appalachian Regional 

25 Commission established under section 14301(a) of title 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•S 2018 IS

1 40, United States Code, or amounts received from the 

2 Northern Border Regional Commission established under 

3 section 15301(a)(3) of title 40, United States Code, for 

4 the non-Federal share of the cost of a project, campaign, 

5 or program that receives funding under this Act. 

6 SEC. 6. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

7 (a) LAST-MILE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE

8 GRANTS.—For grants awarded under section 3, the Com9 mission shall establish transparency and accountability 

10 rules under which— 

11 (1) after receiving an application for a grant to 

12 carry out a qualifying project in an area, the Com13 mission shall determine whether the area is served 

14 or unserved using accurate and granular information 

15 regarding the availability of broadband internet ac16 cess service at the sub-census block level; 

17 (2) the Commission shall— 

18 (A) permit a person or entity to challenge 

19 an initial determination of the Commission 

20 under paragraph (1); and 

21 (B) provide a period of not less than 45 

22 days, after the Commission makes an initial de23 termination under paragraph (1) with respect 

24 to an area, during which a provider of 

25 broadband internet access service may volunVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2018.IS S2018

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•S 2018 IS

1 tarily submit information concerning the 

2 broadband internet access service that the pro3 vider offers in the area; 

4 (3) the Commission shall provide the public 

5 with notice of— 

6 (A) an initial determination with respect to 

7 an area under paragraph (1); 

8 (B) the final determination of whether an 

9 area is served or unserved after the process for 

10 challenging the initial determination, as de11 scribed in paragraph (2), has concluded; 

12 (C) the entities that have applied for a 

13 grant; and 

14 (D) the results of any decision regarding a 

15 grant application, including by identifying— 

16 (i) each eligible entity that was award17 ed a grant; 

18 (ii) the areas that each grantee will 

19 serve using the grant funds; 

20 (iii) the nature of the service that 

21 each grantee will provide in each area de22 scribed in clause (ii); and 

23 (iv) the amount that the Commission 

24 has authorized each grantee to use to carry 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•S 2018 IS

1 out a qualifying project in each unserved 

2 area; and 

3 (4) the Commission shall establish— 

4 (A) broadband buildout milestones and 

5 periodic certifications that a grantee must sub6 mit to demonstrate compliance with the 

7 broadband buildout milestones; 

8 (B) a maximum buildout timeframe of 6 

9 years from the date on which the Commission 

10 first awards a grant to an eligible entity; 

11 (C) periodic reporting requirements for 

12 grantees that identify— 

13 (i) the nature of the service provided 

14 in each unserved area; and 

15 (ii) the latitude and longitude coordi16 nates of each location to which the grantee 

17 has provided broadband service in each 

18 census block; 

19 (D) penalties for noncompliance with— 

20 (i) the broadband buildout milestones 

21 under subparagraph (A); 

22 (ii) the certification requirements 

23 under subparagraph (A); and 

24 (iii) the reporting requirements under 

25 subparagraph (C); 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•S 2018 IS

1 (E) procedures through which the Commis2 sion may recover grant funds, in whole or in 

3 part, from a grantee if the grantee defaults or 

4 does not comply with the requirements under 

5 this Act; and 

6 (F) any additional methods or reporting 

7 necessary to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse 

8 within the grant program. 

9 (b) PUBLIC AWARENESS AND DIGITAL LITERACY

10 GRANTS.—For grants awarded under section 4, the Com11 mission shall establish transparency and accountability 

12 rules that— 

13 (1) require the Commission to provide the pub14 lic with notice of— 

15 (A) the entities that have applied for a 

16 grant; and 

17 (B) the results of any decision regarding a 

18 grant application, including by— 

19 (i) identifying each eligible entity that 

20 was awarded a grant; 

21 (ii) identifying the areas that each 

22 grantee will serve using the grant funds; 

23 (iii) providing a summary of the 

24 projects that each grantee will carry out in 

25 each area described in clause (ii); and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
11 

•S 2018 IS

1 (iv) the amount that the Commission 

2 has authorized a grantee to use to carry 

3 out a public awareness campaign or sup4 port digital literacy programs in each area 

5 described in clause (ii); and 

6 (2) establish— 

7 (A) project milestones and periodic certifi8 cations that a grantee must submit to dem9 onstrate compliance with the project milestones; 

10 (B) a maximum project completion time11 frame of 6 years from the date on which the 

12 Commission first awards a grant to an eligible 

13 entity; 

14 (C) periodic reporting requirements for 

15 grantees to demonstrate progress in meeting 

16 the project milestones under subparagraph (A); 

17 (D) penalties for noncompliance with— 

18 (i) the project milestones under sub19 paragraph (A); 

20 (ii) the certification requirements 

21 under subparagraph (A); and 

22 (iii) the reporting requirements under 

23 subparagraph (C); 

24 (E) procedures through which the Commis25 sion may recover grant funds, in whole or in 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
12 

•S 2018 IS

1 part, from a grantee if the grantee defaults or 

2 does not comply with the requirements under 

3 this Act; and 

4 (F) any additional methods or reporting 

5 necessary to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse 

6 within the grant program. 

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com9 mission to carry out this Act for fiscal year 2019, 

10 $5,000,000,000, to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS