I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1904 
To include broadband as a utility that tenants residing in federally assisted 
housing can have subsidized by the Federal Government, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 16, 2021 
Mr. BOWMAN (for himself and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To include broadband as a utility that tenants residing in 
federally assisted housing can have subsidized by the 
Federal Government, 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 ‘‘Broadband Justice Act 
of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
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(1) the digital divide falls along racial and eco-
nomic lines; 
(2) during the COVID-19 pandemic, research 
determined that African American and Hispanic 
households were 1.3 to 1.4 times as likely as White 
households to experience limited accessibility to the 
internet; 
(3) 44 percent of low-income Americans who 
make less than $30,000 did not have home 
broadband services in 2019; and 
(4) low-income families and individuals living in 
federally assisted housing often lack access to high- 
quality broadband, and monthly broadband costs can 
be prohibitively expensive, which limits their ability 
to undertake essential activities, including remote 
healthcare visits, school assignments, job searches, 
and obtaining information about supportive re-
sources. 
SEC. 3. UTILITY ALLOWANCES FOR FEDERALLY ASSISTED 
HOUSING. 
(a) HUD-ASSISTED HOUSING.— 
(1) PUBLIC HOUSING AND SECTION 8 ASSIST-
ANCE.—Section 3 of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection: 
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‘‘(e) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—A monthly utility allow-
ance under this Act with respect to any dwelling unit in 
public housing or assisted under section 8 shall include 
reasonable costs for broadband high-speed internet serv-
ice.’’. 
(2) PUBLIC
HOUSING
OPERATING
COSTS.— 
Paragraph (1) of section 9(e) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(e)(1)) is 
amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (J), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (K), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(L) the costs attributable to inclusion in 
the utility allowance for residents of public 
housing of an allowance for broadband high 
speed internet service.’’. 
(3) SECTION
202
SUPPORTIVE
HOUSING
FOR 
THE ELDERLY.—Subsection (c) of section 202 of the 
Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(c)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—A monthly utility 
allowance with respect to any dwelling unit assisted 
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under this section shall include reasonable costs for 
broadband high-speed internet service.’’. 
(4) SECTION
811
SUPPORTIVE
HOUSING
FOR 
PERSONS
WITH
DISABILITIES.—Subsection (d) of 
section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Af-
fordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(d)) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—A monthly utility 
allowance with respect to any dwelling unit assisted 
under this section shall include reasonable costs for 
broadband high-speed internet service.’’. 
(5) REGULATIONS.—Not later than the expira-
tion of the 6-month period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development shall revise the regulations 
of the Secretary, including sections 982.517 and 
5.603 and part 990 of title 24, Code of Federal Reg-
ulations, to comply with and carry out the amend-
ments made by subsections (a) and (b) of this sec-
tion, and shall develop a schedule of regional rates 
for broadband costs for use by public housing agen-
cies in setting reasonable costs of broadband high 
speed internet service. 
(b) RURAL ASSISTED HOUSING.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 501 of the Housing 
Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(k) UTILITY ALLOWANCE.—In the case of a dwell-
ing unit in any housing project assisted with a loan or 
grant under section 514, 515, or 516 or rental assistance 
under section 521, the monthly utility allowance under 
this title shall include reasonable costs for broadband 
high-speed internet service.’’. 
(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than the expira-
tion of the 6-month period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri-
culture shall revise the regulations of the Secretary, 
including section 3560.202 of title 7, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations, to comply with and carry out the 
amendment made by subsection (a) of this section. 
(c) LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT PROP-
ERTIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 42(g)(2)(B)(ii) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
inserting ‘‘(including any determination pursuant to 
section 3(e) of such Act)’’ before the comma at the 
end. 
(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than the expira-
tion of the 6-month period beginning on the date of 
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the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall revise the regulations of the Sec-
retary, including section 1.42–10 of title 26, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to comply with and carry out 
the amendment made by subsection (a) of this sec-
tion. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 
each fiscal year thereafter $5,000,000,000 for costs of car-
rying out the provisions added by the amendments made 
by this section. 
SEC. 4. CONNECTED COMMUNITIES GRANTS AND LOANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall jointly carry out a grant 
and loan program under this section to provide access to 
broadband high-speed internet service to residents of fed-
erally assisted housing. 
(b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts made available 
for the program under this section may be used only for 
grants and loans made to further the goal of providing 
universal access to broadband high-speed internet service 
to all residents of federally assisted housing, as follows: 
(1) Grants, including to providers of federally 
assisted housing and public entities, to support 
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projects to provide all residents of affordable hous-
ing projects, including public housing (as such term 
is defined in section 3(b) of the United States Hous-
ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b))) and other 
federally and State-assisted affordable housing 
projects, with access to such internet service; grant-
ees are encouraged to partner with municipal and 
other public or non-profit entities to support internet 
access and may partner with a private broadband 
service provider if the wiring costs charged by the 
private partner to the grantee and the monthly 
broadband costs charged to tenants do not exceed 
the lower comparable cost for such access within the 
same region. 
(2) Grants to public housing agencies and own-
ers of housing assisted with rental assistance under 
section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
(42 U.S.C. 1437f) for installation of such internet 
service, including routers, modems, and other related 
devices, and to provide training and support regard-
ing internet access and operating equipment. 
(3) Direct loans to owners of housing assisted 
under title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 
1471 et seq.) or under the low-income housing tax 
credit program under section 42 of the Internal Rev-
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enue Code of 1986 for costs of installation of such 
internet access in such housing. 
(4) Grants to assist in rehabilitation activities 
necessary to provide wiring, other infrastructure, 
and other broadband assistance needs identified by 
housing providers and their tenants in housing de-
scribed in this subsection as necessary to provide 
such internet service, including tenant support serv-
ices relating to internet access, including educating 
tenants on how to use the internet and facilitating 
contact with internet service providers, except that 
any infrastructure or wiring upgrades performed by 
for-profit service providers shall include open access 
infrastructure. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2022 
through 2025 such sums as may be necessary for grants 
and costs (as such term is defined in section 502 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 661a)) of 
loans under this section. 
Æ 
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