Title: Community Broadband Act of 2020
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Community Broadband Act of 2020
This bill restricts state, local, or tribal governments from prohibiting or inhibiting such government entities or their affiliates from serving as public providers of telecommunications services or advanced telecommunications capabilities to any person or any public or private entity.
The bill prohibits such public providers from favoring themselves over competing providers in the application of regulations, ordinances, public rights-of-way, or permitting requirements. However, the bill provides an exemption from this prohibition during an emergency declared by the President, a governor, or an authorized elected local official.
Lastly, the bill expresses the sense of Congress that such governments or affiliates intending to provide public telecommunications services should consider public-private partnerships.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3649 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3649

To promote competition, to preserve the ability of local governments to 
   provide broadband capability and services, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 7, 2020

     Mr. Booker (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. King, Mr. Wyden, Mr. 
Blumenthal, Mr. Sanders, and Mrs. Gillibrand) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To promote competition, to preserve the ability of local governments to 
   provide broadband capability and services, 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 ``Community Broadband Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``advanced telecommunications capability'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 706(d) of the 
        Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 1302(d));
            (2) the term ``advanced telecommunications capability or 
        services'' means--
                    (A) advanced telecommunications capability; or
                    (B) services using advanced telecommunications 
                capability;
            (3) the term ``Indian Tribe'' has the meaning given the 
        term ``Indian tribe'' in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304);
            (4) the term ``public provider'' means--
                    (A) a State or political subdivision thereof;
                    (B) any agency, authority, or instrumentality of a 
                State or political subdivision thereof;
                    (C) an Indian Tribe; or
                    (D) any entity that is owned by, controlled by, or 
                otherwise affiliated with--
                            (i) a State or political subdivision 
                        thereof;
                            (ii) an agency, authority, or 
                        instrumentality of a State or political 
                        subdivision thereof; or
                            (iii) an Indian Tribe;
            (5) the term ``State'' means each of the several States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 
        any other territory or possession of the United States; and
            (6) the term ``telecommunications service'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 
        (47 U.S.C. 153).

SEC. 3. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AND 
              ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY AND SERVICES.

    No statute, regulation, or other legal requirement of a State, a 
political subdivision thereof, or an Indian Tribe may prohibit, or have 
the effect of prohibiting or substantially inhibiting, any public 
provider from providing telecommunications services or advanced 
telecommunications capability or services to any person or any public 
or private entity.

SEC. 4. SAFEGUARDS.

    (a) Administration.--
            (1) In general.--To the extent any public provider 
        regulates competing providers of telecommunications services or 
        advanced telecommunications capability or services, the public 
        provider shall apply its ordinances, rules, and policies, 
        including those relating to the use of public rights-of-way, 
        permitting, performance bonding, and reporting, without 
        discrimination in favor of--
                    (A) the public provider; or
                    (B) any other provider of telecommunications 
                services or advanced telecommunications capability or 
                services that the public provider owns or with which 
                the public provider is affiliated.
            (2) Exemptions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply--
                    (A) when a public provider provides 
                telecommunications services or advanced 
                telecommunications capability or services other than--
                            (i) to the public; or
                            (ii) to such classes of users as to make 
                        the capability or services effectively 
                        available to the public; or
                    (B) during an emergency declared by the President, 
                the Governor of the State in which the public provider 
                is located, or any other elected local official 
                authorized by law to declare a state of emergency in 
                the jurisdiction in which the public provider is 
                located.
    (b) Application of General Laws.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to exempt a public provider that offers telecommunications 
services or advanced telecommunications capability or services to the 
public from any Federal communications law or regulation that applies 
to all providers of telecommunications services or advanced 
telecommunications capability or services to the public.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ENCOURAGED.

    It is the sense of Congress that a public provider that intends to 
provide telecommunications services or advanced telecommunications 
capability or services to the public should consider the potential 
benefits of a public-private partnership before providing the 
capability or services.

SEC. 6. USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

    If any project providing telecommunications services or advanced 
telecommunications capability or services under this Act fails due to 
bankruptcy or is terminated by a public provider, no Federal funds may 
be provided to the public provider specifically to assist the public 
provider in reviving or renewing that project, unless the failure due 
to bankruptcy occurred in a jurisdiction that is subject to a 
declaration by the President of a major disaster, as defined in section 
102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).
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