II 

Calendar No. 395 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3906 

To improve certain programs of the Small Business Administration to better 

assist small business customers in accessing broadband technology, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2022 

Mr. MARKEY (for Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. ERNST, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. RISCH, and Mr. MARKEY)) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 

and Entrepreneurship 

MAY 25, 2022 

Reported by Mr. CARDIN, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To improve certain programs of the Small Business Administration to better assist small business customers in accessing broadband technology, 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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•S 3906 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business 

3 Broadband and Emerging Information Technology En4 hancement Act of 2022’’. 

5 SEC. 2. BROADBAND AND EMERGING INFORMATION TECH6 NOLOGY COORDINATOR. 

7 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 

10 note) as section 50; and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 

12 657u) the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 49. BROADBAND AND EMERGING INFORMATION 

14 TECHNOLOGY. 

15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Associate Administrator’ means 

17 the Associate Administrator for the Office of Invest18 ment and Innovation; 

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘broadband’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) high-speed wired broadband internet; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) high-speed wireless internet; 

23 ‘‘(3) the term ‘broadband and emerging infor24 mation technology coordinator’ means the employee 

25 designated to carry out the broadband and emerging 


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1 information technology coordination responsibilities 

2 of the Administration under subsection (b)(1); and 

3 ‘‘(4) the term ‘emerging information tech4 nology’ includes— 

5 ‘‘(A) data science technologies such as arti6 ficial intelligence and machine learning; 

7 ‘‘(B) Internet of Things; 

8 ‘‘(C) distributed ledger technologies such 

9 as blockchain; 

10 ‘‘(D) cloud computing and software as a 

11 system technologies; 

12 ‘‘(E) computer numerical control tech13 nologies such as 3D printing; and 

14 ‘‘(F) robotics and automation. 

15 ‘‘(b) ASSIGNMENT OF COORDINATOR.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ASSIGNMENT OF COORDINATOR.—The As17 sociate Administrator shall designate a senior em18 ployee of the Office of Investment and Innovation to 

19 serve as the broadband and emerging information 

20 technology coordinator, who— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall report to the Associate Adminis22 trator; 

23 ‘‘(B) shall work in coordination with— 

24 ‘‘(i) the chief information officer, the 

25 chief technology officer, and the head of 


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1 the Office of Technology of the Adminis2 tration; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) any other Associate Adminis4 trator of the Administration determined 

5 appropriate by the Associate Adminis6 trator; 

7 ‘‘(C) has experience developing and imple8 menting telecommunications policy in the pri9 vate sector or government; and 

10 ‘‘(D) has demonstrated significant experi11 ence in the area of broadband or emerging in12 formation technology. 

13 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF COORDINATOR.— 

14 The broadband and emerging information technology 

15 coordinator shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) coordinate programs of the Adminis17 tration that assist small business concerns in 

18 adopting, making innovations in, and using 

19 broadband and other emerging information 

20 technologies; 

21 ‘‘(B) serve as the primary liaison of the 

22 Administration to other Federal agencies in23 volved in broadband and emerging information 

24 technology policy, including the Department of 

25 Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, the 


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1 Department of the Treasury, and the Federal 

2 Communications Commission; 

3 ‘‘(C) identify best practices relating to 

4 broadband and emerging information tech5 nology that may benefit small business con6 cerns; and 

7 ‘‘(D) identify and catalog tools and train8 ing available through the resource partners of 

9 the Administration that assist small business 

10 concerns in adopting, making innovations in, 

11 and using broadband and emerging information 

12 technologies. 

13 ‘‘(3) TRAVEL.—Not more than 20 percent of 

14 the hours of service by the broadband and emerging 

15 information technology coordinator during any fiscal 

16 year shall consist of travel outside the United States 

17 to perform official duties. 

18 ‘‘(c) BROADBAND AND EMERGING INFORMATION

19 TECHNOLOGY TRAINING.—The Associate Administrator 

20 shall provide to employees of the Administration training 

21 that— 

22 ‘‘(1) familiarizes employees of the Administra23 tion with broadband and other emerging information 

24 technologies; 

25 ‘‘(2) includes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) instruction on counseling small busi2 ness concerns regarding adopting, making inno3 vations in, and using broadband and other 

4 emerging information technologies; and 

5 ‘‘(B) information on programs of the Fed6 eral Government that provide assistance to small 

7 business concerns relating to broadband and 

8 emerging information technologies; and 

9 ‘‘(3) to maximum extent practicable, uses the 

10 tools and training cataloged and identified under sub11 section (b)(2)(D). 

12 ‘‘(1) TRAINING.—The Associate Administrator 

13 shall provide to employees of the Administration 

14 training that— 

15 ‘‘(A) familiarizes employees of the Admin16 istration with broadband and other emerging 

17 information technologies; 

18 ‘‘(B) includes— 

19 ‘‘(i) instruction on counseling small 

20 business concerns regarding adopting, 

21 making innovations in, and using 

22 broadband and other emerging information 

23 technologies; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) information on programs of the 

25 Federal Government that provide assistVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 May 26, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3906.RS S3906

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1 ance to small business concerns relating to 

2 broadband and emerging information tech3 nologies; and 

4 ‘‘(C) to maximum extent practicable, uses 

5 the tools and training cataloged and identified 

6 under subsection (b)(2)(D). 

7 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

9 as are necessary to carry out this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) BIENNIAL REPORT ON ACTIVITIES.—Not 

12 later than 2 years after the date on which the Asso13 ciate Administrator makes the first designation of 

14 an employee under subsection (b), and every 2 years 

15 thereafter, the broadband and emerging information 

16 technology coordinator shall submit to the Com17 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

18 the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 

19 the House of Representatives a report regarding the 

20 programs and activities of the Administration relat21 ing to broadband and other emerging information 

22 technologies. 

23 ‘‘(2) IMPACT OF BROADBAND AVAILABILITY, 

24 SPEED, AND PRICE AND EMERGING INFORMATION


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1 TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT ON SMALL BUSI2 NESSES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to appropria4 tions, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy shall con5 duct a study evaluating the impact of— 

6 ‘‘(i) broadband availability, speed, and 

7 price on small business concerns; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) emerging information technology 

9 deployment on small business concerns. 

10 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 

11 after the date of enactment of the Small Busi12 ness Broadband and Emerging Information 

13 Technology Enhancement Act of 2022, the 

14 Chief Counsel for Advocacy shall submit to the 

15 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans16 portation and the Committee on Small Business 

17 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the 

18 Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 

19 Committee on Small Business of the House of 

20 Representatives a report on the results of the 

21 study under subparagraph (A), including— 

22 ‘‘(i) a survey of broadband speeds 

23 available to small business concerns; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a survey of the cost of broadband 

2 speeds available to small business con3 cerns; 

4 ‘‘(iii) a survey of the type of 

5 broadband technology used by small busi6 ness concerns; 

7 ‘‘(iv) a survey of the types of emerg8 ing information technologies used by small 

9 business concerns; and 

10 ‘‘(v) any policy recommendations that 

11 may improve the access of small business 

12 concerns to comparable broadband services 

13 or emerging information technologies at 

14 comparable rates in all regions of the 

15 United States.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

17 Section 21(c)(3)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)(B)) is amended— 

19 (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by insert20 ing ‘‘accessing broadband and other emerging infor21 mation technology,’’ after ‘‘technology transfer,’’; 

22 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

23 (3) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

24 and 

25 (4) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iv) increasing the competitiveness and 

2 productivity of small business concerns by as3 sisting entrepreneurs in accessing broadband 

4 and other emerging information technology;’’. 


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Calendar No. 395 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3906 

A BILL 

To improve certain programs of the Small Business 

and for other purposes. customers in accessing broadband technology, Administration to better assist small business 

MAY 25, 2022 

Reported with amendments 


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