SEC. 
2. 
GRANT 
PROGRAM 
TO 
PROVIDE 
HIGH-SPEED 
BROADBAND SERVICE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
of the Small Business Administration shall establish a pro-
gram (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Program’’) to facili-
tate the provision of high-speed broadband service to rural 
small business concerns. 
(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro-
gram, the Administrator shall award a grant to each eligi-
ble State that submits an application. 
(c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.— 
(1) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The Administrator shall 
award a grant under the Program each year to a 
State that submits an application pursuant to sub-
section (d). 
(2) ELIGIBLE SUBGRANT RECIPIENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible State may 
award a subgrant under the Program to any 
entity, or group of entities, determined by the 
eligible State to have the authority and capa-
bility to carry out a project described in sub-
section (d). 
(B) NOT
REQUIRED
TO
BE
ELIGIBLE 
TELECOMMUNICATION CARRIER.—A determina-
tion of authority and capability under subpara-
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graph (A) may not require a subgrant recipient 
to be designated as an eligible telecommuni-
cations carrier under section 214(e) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
214(e)). 
(d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 
the Program, a State shall submit to the Administrator 
an application that demonstrates that the State— 
(1) prior to the date of application for a grant 
under the Program, has experience managing a 
State or Federal grant program to facilitate the pro-
vision of high-speed broadband service; 
(2) maintains a State broadband plan; 
(3) has updated the State broadband plan 
under paragraph (2) in the five years prior to the 
date a State submits an application for a grant 
under the Program; 
(4) agrees to subgrant any awarded funds to an 
eligible subgrant recipient; 
(5) agrees to conduct a periodic financial audit 
of eligible subgrant recipients who have received a 
subgrant under the Program; 
(6) ensures proper disbursement and account-
ing for Federal funds awarded under the Program, 
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including demonstrating that if awarded a subgrant 
under the Program— 
(A) such award has been used to assist an 
eligible project; and 
(B) that a State has recovered an award 
from a subgrant recipient who has not complied 
with the requirements of the Program; and 
(7) possesses any other administrative or tech-
nical capacity that the Administrator deems nec-
essary for the success of the Program. 
(e) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Grant funds awarded under 
the Program may only be used to assist a project 
that makes available eligible infrastructure necessary 
to provide high-speed broadband service to a rural 
small business concern. 
(2) RESTRICTION ON DUPLICATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Grant funds awarded 
under the Program may not be used to assist 
a project that makes available duplicative eligi-
ble infrastructure to a small business concern 
located in a rural area. 
(B) DETERMINATION OF DUPLICATIVE IN-
FRASTRUCTURE.— 
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(i) IN
GENERAL.—An eligible State 
shall determine the presence of duplicative 
eligible infrastructure using broadband in-
frastructure geolocation data from Federal, 
State, or commercial sources. 
(ii) PROCESS TO CHALLENGE DETER-
MINATION.— 
(I) 
PUBLICATION
REQUIRE-
MENT.—An eligible State shall make 
available to the public the location of 
proposed eligible infrastructure for 
which a subgrant application has been 
submitted to the eligible State. 
(II) OPPORTUNITY
TO
CHAL-
LENGE
DETERMINATION.—Not later 
than 15 days prior to the award of a 
subgrant, an eligible State shall allow 
a provider of eligible infrastructure 
the opportunity to submit information 
regarding the location of such infra-
structure so that the eligible State 
may determine whether a project to 
be awarded a subgrant will make 
available duplicative eligible infra-
structure. 
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(f) PRIORITY.—In making a grant under the Pro-
gram, the Administrator shall give priority to an eligible 
project based on the number of small business concerns 
located in a rural area provided high-speed broadband 
service by the project. 
(g) GRANT AMOUNT AWARDED.—In making a grant 
under the Program, the Administrator shall award an eli-
gible State the amount equaling the ratio of the number 
of individuals in the eligible State who reside in a rural 
area divided by the number of individuals who reside in 
a rural area in all eligible States that have been approved 
under the Program, multiplied by the total amount of 
funds authorized to be appropriated under subsection 
(k)(2). 
(h) LIMITATIONS ON A SUBGRANT AMOUNT.—The 
amount of a subgrant under the Program— 
(1) if awarded to an entity providing high-speed 
broadband service to a single small business concern, 
may not exceed $15,000; or 
(2) if awarded to an entity providing high-speed 
broadband service to more than one small business 
concern, may not exceed $35,000. 
(i) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 
of a project assisted with a grant under the Program shall 
not exceed 75 percent. 
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(j) EVALUATION OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) REPORT
TO
ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later 
than 30 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, each eligible State shall submit to the Ad-
ministrator a report demonstrating the information 
required pursuant to subsection (d)(6). 
(2) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later than 
three years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Small Business of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Small Business 
and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the 
Program that includes a description of— 
(A) the number of grants awarded under 
the Program; 
(B) the total amount of funding expended 
on eligible infrastructure pursuant to the Pro-
gram; 
(C) the number of small business concerns 
in rural areas provided eligible infrastructure as 
a result of the Program during the two-year pe-
riod beginning on the date on which the Admin-
istrator first awards a grant under the Pro-
gram; and 
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(D) the number of miles of eligible infra-
structure made available pursuant to the Pro-
gram. 
(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out the Program $25,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2023. 
(2) RESERVATION FOR GRANTS.—Not less than 
97 percent of funds appropriated for the Program 
shall be reserved for providing grants to eligible 
States. 
(3) RESERVATION FOR ADMINISTRATION.—Not 
more than 3 percent of funds appropriated for the 
Program may be used by the Administrator to ad-
minister the Program. 
SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT ON BROADBAND SERVICE 
SPEEDS AND PRICING. 
(a) STUDY.—The Administrator of the Small Busi-
ness Administration shall conduct a survey of a represent-
ative sample of small business concerns located in rural 
areas on— 
(1) the speeds of broadband service available to 
small business concerns located in rural areas; 
(2) the prices for broadband service available to 
small business concerns located in rural areas; 
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(3) the types of broadband service technology 
used by small business concerns located in rural 
areas; 
(4) the type of broadband service available to 
small business concerns located in rural areas, spe-
cifically whether it is best-effort service or service 
with guaranteed quality-of-service benchmarks; and 
(5) the primary purposes for which small busi-
ness concerns located in rural areas use their 
broadband connections and whether their current 
broadband service enables them to satisfactorily 
carry out each of these purposes. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than three years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 
submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business 
and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the re-
sults of the study conducted under subsection (a) that in-
cludes policy recommendations for improving the access 
of small business concerns to affordable high-speed 
broadband service. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ELIGIBLE
INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 
‘‘eligible infrastructure’’ means infrastructure of a 
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type with the demonstrated capability to facilitate 
broadband service for which— 
(A) 95 percent or more of all peak period 
measurements of— 
(i) downstream transmission capacity 
are at or above 50 Mbps; 
(ii) upstream transmission capacity 
are at or above 50 Mbps; and 
(iii) network round trip latency are at 
or below 100 milliseconds; and 
(B) an end-user’s monthly data cap is at 
or above 2 terabytes. 
(2) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ has 
the meaning given such term under section 
601(b)(3) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 
(7 U.S.C. 950bb(b)(3)). 
(3) RURAL SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The 
term ‘‘rural small business concern’’ means a small 
business concern that has its principal office located 
in a rural area. 
(4) SMALL
BUSINESS
CONCERN.—The term 
‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given 
such term under section 3 of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 632). 
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(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing given such term under section 12052 of the 
Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Im-
provements Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 636e). 
Æ 
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