I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4486 
To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 
Information to establish a State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 
Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself, Mr. LUJA´N, and Ms. CLARKE of New York) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Commu-
nications and Information to establish a State Digital 
Equity Capacity Grant Program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Equity Act of 
2019’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADOPTION
OF
BROADBAND.—The term 
‘‘adoption of broadband’’ means the process by 
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which an individual obtains daily access to the inter-
net— 
(A) at a speed, quality, and capacity— 
(i) that is necessary for the individual 
to accomplish common tasks; and 
(ii) such that the access qualifies as 
an advanced telecommunications capability; 
(B) with the digital skills that are nec-
essary for the individual to participate online; 
and 
(C) on a— 
(i) personal device; and 
(ii) secure and convenient network. 
(2) ADVANCED
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
CAPA-
BILITY.—The term ‘‘advanced telecommunications 
capability’’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 706(d) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 
(47 U.S.C. 1302(d)). 
(3) AGING INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘aging indi-
vidual’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘older indi-
vidual’’ in section 102 of the Older Americans Act 
of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002). 
(4) 
APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES
OF
CON-
GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means— 
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(A) the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate; 
(B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate; 
(C) the Committee on Appropriations of 
the House of Representatives; and 
(D) the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce of the House of Representatives. 
(5) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist-
ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Communications and Information. 
(6) COMMUNITY
ANCHOR
INSTITUTION.—The 
term ‘‘community anchor institution’’ means a pub-
lic school, a library, a medical or healthcare pro-
vider, a community college or other institution of 
higher education, a State library agency, and any 
other nonprofit or governmental community support 
organization. 
(7) COVERED HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘covered 
household’’ means a household, the taxable income 
of which for the most recently completed taxable 
year is not more than 150 percent of an amount 
equal to the poverty level, as determined by using 
criteria of poverty established by the Bureau of the 
Census. 
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(8) COVERED POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘cov-
ered populations’’ means— 
(A) individuals who live in covered house-
holds; 
(B) aging individuals; 
(C) incarcerated individuals, other than in-
dividuals who are incarcerated in a Federal cor-
rectional facility; 
(D) veterans; 
(E) individuals with disabilities; 
(F) individuals with a language barrier, in-
cluding individuals who— 
(i) are English learners; and 
(ii) have low levels of literacy; 
(G) individuals who are members of a ra-
cial or ethnic minority group; and 
(H) individuals who primarily reside in a 
rural area. 
(9) COVERED PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘covered 
programs’’ means the State Digital Equity Capacity 
Grant Program established under section 4 and the 
Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program estab-
lished under section 5. 
(10) DIGITAL EQUITY.—The term ‘‘digital eq-
uity’’ means the condition in which individuals and 
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communities have the information technology capac-
ity that is needed for full participation in the society 
and economy of the United States. 
(11) DIGITAL INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘digital 
inclusion’’— 
(A) means the activities that are necessary 
to ensure that all individuals in the United 
States have access to, and the use of, affordable 
information and communication technologies, 
such as— 
(i) reliable broadband internet service; 
(ii) internet-enabled devices that meet 
the needs of the user; and 
(iii) applications and online content 
designed to enable and encourage self-suf-
ficiency, participation, and collaboration; 
and 
(B) includes— 
(i) obtaining access to digital literacy 
training; 
(ii) the provision of quality technical 
support; and 
(iii) obtaining basic awareness of 
measures to ensure online privacy and cy-
bersecurity. 
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(12) DIGITAL LITERACY.—The term ‘‘digital lit-
eracy’’ means the skills associated with using tech-
nology to enable users to find, evaluate, organize, 
create, and communicate information. 
(13) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12102). 
(14) ELIGIBLE
STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 
State’’ means— 
(A) with respect to planning grants made 
available under section 4(c)(3), a State with re-
spect to which the Assistant Secretary has ap-
proved an application submitted to the Assist-
ant Secretary under section 4(c)(3)(C); and 
(B) with respect to capacity grants award-
ed under section 4(d), a State with respect to 
which the Assistant Secretary has approved an 
application submitted to the Assistant Secretary 
under section 4(d)(2), including approval of the 
State Digital Equity Plan developed by the 
State under section 4(c). 
(15) GENDER
IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 
identity’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
249(c) of title 18, United States Code. 
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(16) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4(e) of 
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist-
ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 
(17) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 
The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’— 
(A) has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1001); and 
(B) includes a postsecondary vocational in-
stitution. 
(18) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 
the term in section 8101(30) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801(30)). 
(19) POSTSECONDARY
VOCATIONAL
INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary vocational institu-
tion’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1002(c)). 
(20) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 601(b)(3) of 
the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 
950bb(b)(3)). 
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(21) SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN-
TAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘‘so-
cially and economically disadvantaged small business 
concern’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
8(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
637(a)(4)). 
(22) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 
(A) any State of the United States; 
(B) the District of Columbia; and 
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
(23) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 
United States Code. 
(24) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 
The term ‘‘workforce development program’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 3 of the Work-
force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
3102). 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) a broadband connection and digital literacy 
are increasingly critical to how individuals— 
(A) participate in the society, economy, 
and civic institutions of the United States; and 
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(B) access health care and essential serv-
ices, obtain education, and build careers; 
(2) digital exclusion— 
(A) carries a high societal and economic 
cost; 
(B) materially harms the opportunity of an 
individual with respect to the economic success, 
educational achievement, positive health out-
comes, social inclusion, and civic engagement of 
that individual; and 
(C) exacerbates existing wealth and income 
gaps, especially those experienced by covered 
populations; 
(3) achieving digital equity for all people of the 
United States requires additional and sustained in-
vestment and research efforts; 
(4) the Federal Government, as well as State, 
tribal, territorial, and local governments, have made 
social, legal, and economic obligations that nec-
essarily extend to how the citizens and residents of 
those governments access and use the internet; and 
(5) achieving digital equity is a matter of social 
and economic justice and is worth pursuing. 
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SEC. 4. STATE DIGITAL EQUITY CAPACITY GRANT PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary 
shall establish in the Department of Commerce the 
State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program (re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’)— 
(A) the purpose of which is to promote the 
achievement of digital equity, support digital in-
clusion activities, and build capacity for efforts 
by States relating to the adoption of broadband 
by residents of those States; 
(B) through which the Assistant Secretary 
shall make grants to States in accordance with 
the requirements of this section; and 
(C) which shall ensure that States have the 
capacity to promote the achievement of digital 
equity and support digital inclusion activities. 
(2) CONSULTATION
WITH
OTHER
FEDERAL 
AGENCIES; NO CONFLICT.—In establishing the Pro-
gram under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary 
shall— 
(A) consult with— 
(i) the Secretary of Agriculture; 
(ii) the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development; 
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