State Broadband Office Innovation Pilot Act

To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish a pilot program to provide innovation grants to established State broadband offices, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the State Broadband Office Innovation Pilot Act 2. Innovation pilot program (a) Establishment of program (1) Requirements Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall establish a pilot program to provide grants to eligible State broadband offices for new projects to increase broadband connectivity, accelerate deployment of broadband, or establish affordable broadband access to underserved populations that includes any of the following: (A) Mapping and data collection of areas of connectivity, underserved areas, and unserved areas to improve efforts to map, collect data, and supplement ongoing efforts. (B) Planning and program evaluation of broadband to establish or incentivize affordable options. (C) Engaging unserved or underserved farms for the purpose of enabling precision agriculture or other purposes. (D) A project that makes networks more reliable and resilient to natural disasters. (E) Any State, local, or Tribal project that engages in creative solutions to ensure more underserved populations have access to affordable, high-quality broadband and a latency that is sufficiently low to allow real-time, interactive applications. (2) Partnerships An eligible State broadband office may engage in partnerships with public, private, or other entities (including public utilities districts) in a project described under paragraph (1). (b) Source of funding Any grant made under this section shall be in addition to any other grant made by the Federal Government and shall not be a violation of any other grant requirement restricting or prohibiting the Federal Government as a source of funding. (c) Public outreach The Assistant Secretary— (1) shall notify the public about the pilot program under this section by— (A) publishing a description of the program, including when and how to apply, on the NTIA website; and (B) disseminating such description through social media or other means; and (2) shall notify State broadband offices and offer those offices technical assistance for applying for a grant under this section. (d) Application and deadline To apply To be eligible to participate in the pilot program under this section, an eligible State broadband office shall submit to the Assistant Secretary an application that describes how any funds granted will be used, in such a form and in such a manner as the Assistant Secretary may require not later than 60 days after the date on which the program is established pursuant to subsection (a). (e) Disbursement of funds Not later than 5 months after the date on which the program is established pursuant to subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary shall disburse funds to those eligible State broadband offices selected by the Assistant Secretary to receive grants under this section. (f) Report required (1) Project establishment and first year report Not later than 1 year after the receipt of any grant made under this section, the eligible State broadband office shall commit funds for any project funded with the grant and submit to the Assistant Secretary a report that includes the following: (A) An accounting of how grant funds were used. (B) A summary of— (i) the completed project; or (ii) progress made on the project and a detailed timeline for completion. (C) A description of whether the project was successful, including if goals were met, and the following information, if applicable: (i) The number of previously underserved or unserved households now served. (ii) The percentage of households in State connected to broadband. (iii) Any project improvements that would increase the affordability of broadband. (D) Any recommendations for further improvements on the project. (2) Report on completion With regard to any project not completed by the submission of the report required pursuant to paragraph (1), not later than 30 days after the date on which the project is completed, the eligible State broadband office shall submit to the Assistant Secretary a report that includes the information described under subparagraphs (A), (B)(i), (C), and (D). (g) Transparency, accountability, and oversight required (1) In general In implementing this section, the Assistant Secretary shall adopt measures to ensure sufficient transparency, accountability, and oversight to provide the public with information regarding the award and use of grant funds under this section, and to deter waste, fraud, and abuse of grant funds. (2) Review of report The Assistant Secretary shall review any report submitted pursuant to subsection (e) and consider any new ideas from those reports for future NTIA projects. (3) Request for information The recipient of any grant made under this section shall respond to any request made by the Assistant Secretary for more information or documentation related to the project funded through the grant. (4) Misuse of funds The Assistant Secretary may prohibit any grant recipient from other grants made by NTIA if the Assistant Secretary determines there has been a misuse of funds under this section. (5) Recovery of unauthorized use of funds To the extent that the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce determines that an eligible entity expended grant funds received under this section in violation of this section, the Assistant Secretary shall recover the amount of funds that were so expended. (h) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to the Assistant Secretary to carry out this section $50,000,000 for the fiscal year in which grants are disbursed pursuant to subsection (d). Funds shall remain available until expended. (i) Definitions In this section: (1) Assistant secretary The term Assistant Secretary (2) Broadband The term broadband broadband internet access service (3) Eligible state broadband office The term eligible State broadband office (4) NTIA The term NTIA

Summary: State Broadband Office Innovation Pilot Act This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to establish a pilot program that provides grants to eligible state broadband offices for new projects that increase broadband connectivity, accelerate broadband deployment, or establish affordable broadband access to underserved populations.