I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9066 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 31, 2020 
Ms. SCHRIER (for herself and Mr. BUDD) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Commu-
nications and Information to establish a pilot program 
to provide innovation grants to established State 
broadband offices, 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 ‘‘State Broadband Of-
fice Innovation Pilot Act’’. 
SEC. 2. INNOVATION PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 
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(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 30 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the As-
sistant Secretary shall establish a pilot program to 
provide grants to eligible State broadband offices for 
new projects to increase broadband connectivity, ac-
celerate deployment of broadband, or establish af-
fordable broadband access to underserved popu-
lations 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, col-
lect 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 ag-
riculture 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 un-
derserved populations have access to affordable, 
high-quality broadband and a latency that is 
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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 para-
graph (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 pro-
gram under this section by— 
(A) publishing a description of the pro-
gram, 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 sec-
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tion, 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 estab-
lished 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 se-
lected 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. 
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(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 under-
served 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 im-
provements 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 in-
cludes the information described under subpara-
graphs (A), (B)(i), (C), and (D). 
(g) TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND OVER-
SIGHT REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In implementing this sec-
tion, the Assistant Secretary shall adopt measures to 
ensure sufficient transparency, accountability, and 
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oversight to provide the public with information re-
garding 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 Sec-
retary 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 recipi-
ent of any grant made under this section shall re-
spond to any request made by the Assistant Sec-
retary for more information or documentation re-
lated to the project funded through the grant. 
(4) MISUSE
OF
FUNDS.—The Assistant Sec-
retary may prohibit any grant recipient from other 
grants made by NTIA if the Assistant Secretary de-
termines 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. 
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(h) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Assistant Sec-
retary 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 ‘‘Assist-
ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Communications and Information. 
(2) BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘broadband’’ has 
the meaning given the term ‘‘broadband internet ac-
cess service’’ in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of 
Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation. 
(3) ELIGIBLE
STATE
BROADBAND
OFFICE.— 
The term ‘‘eligible State broadband office’’ means 
an office located in a State with at least one em-
ployee whose salary is funded with State resources 
and whose primary focus is broadband build out and 
monitoring. 
(4) NTIA.—The term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the Na-
tional Telecommunications and Information Admin-
istration. 
Æ 
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