I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3517
To establish a program to assist States and local governments for the conduct 
of electronic governance transactions at libraries and elementary and 
secondary schools, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2005
Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To establish a program to assist States and local govern-
ments for the conduct of electronic governance trans-
actions at libraries and elementary and secondary 
schools, 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 ‘‘Greater Access to E-
Governance Act’’ or the ‘‘GATE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
It is the purpose of this Act to establish a grant pro-
gram to provide funds to State and local governments to
enable them to deploy broadband computer networks for 
the conduct of electronic governance transactions by citi-
zens in local schools and libraries. 
SEC. 3. GRANT AUTHORIZATION. 
(a) TERMS FOR AUTHORIZATION.—From the funds 
appropriated under section 6, the Secretary shall make 
grants to State governments and units of local government 
to carry out activities consistent with subsection (b). Such 
grants shall— 
(1) be awarded to urban and rural governments 
that are deploying or plan to deploy community- 
based schools or communities of learning which will 
utilize electronic governance transactions processing 
systems; and 
(2) contain such other provision as the Sec-
retary considers necessary pursuant to this Act. 
(b) USE OF GRANT PROCEEDS.—Grants made avail-
able to a State government or unit of local government 
under this Act may be used— 
(1) to hire contractors or non-profit organiza-
tions to deploy and manage the broadband computer 
networks needed to permit citizens to conduct gov-
ernance transactions electronically rather than on 
paper;
(2) to acquire broadband infrastructure, com-
puters, and other equipment for such networks; and 
(3) to acquire related software and services to 
support such networks. 
SEC. 4. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS. 
(a) GRANT ALLOCATION CRITERIA.—Under the cri-
teria set forth under this section, the Secretary shall de-
cide which State governments and units of local govern-
ments will be awarded grants to carry out activity con-
sistent with section 3(b). 
(b) ALLOCATION CRITERIA.—Such criteria shall— 
(1) require cost-benefit analysis for deployment 
of broadband infrastructure, network and equip-
ment; 
(2) require that the Federal share of the cost 
of any such activity not exceed 60 percent; 
(3) require documentation that clearly defines 
preexisting user fee-driven government transactions 
and service delivery processing systems, paper or 
electronic, that can be readily deployed to the World 
Wide Web; 
(4) require documented expertise in information 
technology deployment by the deployment entity; 
(5) require deployment partnership contracts;
(6) designate grant allocation to State agencies, 
such as departments of education or departments of 
community affairs, that statutorily distribute govern-
mental resources to city, regional, and local units of 
government, financing authorities, and school dis-
tricts; and 
(7) require that any State government that re-
ceives a grant under this Act will ensure that at 
least 50 percent of such grant will be used for the 
benefit of rural areas in such State. 
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 
The Secretary may issue such regulations as may be 
necessary and appropriate to carry out this Act. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to make 
grants under this Act such sums as may be necessary for 
fiscal year 2003 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of this Act: 
(1) BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 
‘‘broadband infrastructure’’ means fiber optic, dig-
ital subscriber lines (DSL), cable transmission, 
broadband wireless, and broadband satellite medi-
ums.
(2) 
ELECTRONIC
GOVERNANCE
TRANS-
ACTION.—The term ‘‘electronic governance trans-
action’’ means any electronic transaction between a 
citizen and an agency of State or local government, 
exercised both by the public through the democratic 
process, and by the executive, legislative, and judi-
cial branches of government in their management 
and oversight of operations, and includes issuing of 
marriage licenses, building permits, professional li-
censes, or other licenses, registrations, permits, 
deeds, titles, certificates, or records, and providing 
of government services, including electronic benefits 
transfer, technology skills training, distance or life-
long learning, business and industry educational 
needs, and other relevant government services. 
(3) DEPLOYMENT PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT.— 
The term ‘‘deployment partnership contract’’ means 
a legally binding contract entered into by all relevant 
entities participating in the repayment process. 
(4) DEPLOYMENT ENTITY.—The term ‘‘deploy-
ment entity’’ means the State agency, local govern-
ment unit, private sector company, or nonprofit or-
ganization contracted to deploy and manage the 
broadband networked computer system.
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Commerce. 
Æ