Title: ACCESS Rural America Act
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Access to Capital Creates Economic Strength and Supports Rural America Act or the ACCESS Rural America Act
This bill increases the shareholder registration threshold for issuers receiving support through federal universal service support mechanisms, which provide communication services to underserved areas.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3650 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3650

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the shareholder 
  threshold for registration under that Act for issuers that receive 
 support through certain Federal universal service support mechanisms, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 15, 2018

Ms. Baldwin (for herself and Mrs. Ernst) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the shareholder 
  threshold for registration under that Act for issuers that receive 
 support through certain Federal universal service support mechanisms, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Access to Capital Creates Economic 
Strength and Supports Rural America Act'' or the ``ACCESS Rural America 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SHAREHOLDER THRESHOLD FOR REGISTRATION OF CERTAIN ISSUERS.

    Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
78l(g)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``and'' at 
                the end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by adding ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
                following:
            ``(C) in the case of an issuer that, during its previous 
        fiscal year, received support, directly or through an 
        affiliate, through any Federal universal service support 
        mechanism established under section 254 of the Communications 
        Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) and filed the report described in 
        paragraph (7) with respect to such fiscal year, not later than 
        120 days after the last day of its first fiscal year ended 
        after the date of enactment of this subparagraph, on which the 
        issuer has total assets exceeding $10,000,000 and a class of 
        equity security (other than an exempted security) held of 
        record by either--
                    ``(i) 2,000 persons, or
                    ``(ii) 1,250 persons who are not accredited 
                investors,''; and
                    (D) in the flush text following subparagraph (C), 
                as added by subparagraph (C) of this paragraph, by 
                adding at the end the following: ``The dollar figures 
                in subparagraph (C) shall be indexed for inflation 
                every 5 years by the Commission to reflect the change 
                in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 
                published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, rounded to 
                the nearest $100,000.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(7) Report by Universal Service Support Mechanism Recipients.--
            ``(A) In general.--The Commission shall issue regulations 
        to establish a financial summary form that may be filed by an 
        issuer that--
                    ``(i) during its previous fiscal year, received 
                support, directly or through an affiliate, through any 
                Federal universal service support mechanism established 
                under section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
                U.S.C. 254); and
                    ``(ii) has a class of equity security held of 
                record by 500 or more persons who are not accredited 
                investors, but fewer than 1,250 persons who are not 
                accredited investors.
            ``(B) Contents.--The form described in subparagraph (A) 
        shall include a summary of the consolidated balance sheet and 
        the consolidated income statement of the issuer and such other 
        information as the Commission determines is necessary and 
        appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of 
        investors.''.

SEC. 3. SEC STUDY.

    (a) Study.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall carry out a 
study on--
            (1) the effect of the amendments made by section 2; and
            (2) the extent to which the amendments described in 
        paragraph (1) have improved capital formation by the issuers 
        described in subparagraph (C) of section 12(g)(1) of the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l(g)(1)), as added 
        by section 2(1)(C) of this Act.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date that is 3 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Securities and Exchange 
Commission shall submit to Congress a report that contains--
            (1) all findings and determinations made in carrying out 
        the study required under subsection (a); and
            (2) a recommendation regarding whether issuers in other 
        sectors of the economy could benefit from the types of changes 
        made by the amendments described in subsection (a)(1).
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