Title: COVS Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Computers for Veterans and Students Act of 2020 or the COVS Act
This bill allows federal agencies to directly transfer surplus computers and related technology to refurbishers for eventual distribution to schools, veterans, seniors, and other specified populations in need. The General Services Administration (GSA) may also transfer property it receives from other agencies to refurbishers for such purposes.
Currently, the GSA operates the Computers for Learning Program, which distributes surplus computers and related technology from federal agencies to schools and educational nonprofits; the program does not allow property to be transferred directly to refurbishers.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7566 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7566

 To allow the Administrator of the General Services Administration to 
    transfer certain surplus computers and technology equipment to 
 nonprofit computer refurbishers for repair and distribution, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2020

   Ms. Spanberger (for herself, Mr. Wittman, Mr. Riggleman, and Mrs. 
    Luria) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To allow the Administrator of the General Services Administration to 
    transfer certain surplus computers and technology equipment to 
 nonprofit computer refurbishers for repair and distribution, 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 ``Computers for Veterans and Students 
Act of 2020'' or the ``COVS Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Access to computers and computer technology is 
        indispensable for success in the 21st century. Millions of 
        Americans do not regularly use a computer, and research shows 
        that substantial disparities remain in both internet use and 
        the quality of access with the digital divide concentrated 
        among older, less educated, less affluent populations, 
        especially veterans, low-income students, and senior citizens.
            (2) In 1996, the President issued Executive Order 12999 
        instructing the General Services Administration (GSA) to allow 
        schools and nonprofits the ability to receive Federal surplus 
        computers for educational purposes.
            (3) GSA created the Computers for Learning Program, which 
        distributes approximately 30,000 computers and computer-related 
        equipment annually to public schools and educational nonprofits 
        for reuse.
            (4) In July 2017, the Inspector General for GSA issued a 
        report on the lack of controls with the CFL website. The report 
        noted multiple cases of theft or fraud pertaining to lack of 
        vetting of education nonprofits registering on the website. 
        Although GSA indicated that other Federal agencies had 
        responsibility to vet nonprofits for eligibility, many agencies 
        were not aware of this requirement.
            (5) Since the IG report was issued, GSA has implemented 
        reforms to ensure that agencies are aware of their 
        responsibility to determine that educational nonprofits are 
        certified tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. However, there 
        remains an issue with schools obtaining surplus computers that 
        are not ready to use. In most cases, the schools do not have 
        the resources to pay to refurbish the computers, which results 
        in computers being wasted.
            (6) Any Federal program that distributes retired Federal 
        computers to a public school, an educational nonprofit 
        organization, or a nonprofit computer refurbisher for repair 
        and distribution, would benefit from a partnership with a 
        nonprofit organization, whose mission includes bridging the 
        digital divide.

SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN SURPLUS COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT 
              TO NONPROFIT COMPUTER REFURBISHERS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Federal agency.--The head of each Federal agency may 
        transfer any surplus computer or technology equipment that is 
        not being used by the Federal agency, or has not been requested 
        for use by another Federal agency, and has not been used for 
        classified information (unless the relevant agency head 
        determines that appropriate steps were taken to wipe the memory 
        of such computer or technology equipment)--
                    (A) directly to an eligible computer refurbisher 
                for receipt in accordance with subsection (b); or
                    (B) to the Administrator of the General Services 
                Administration for further transfer in accordance with 
                paragraph (2).
            (2) General services administration.--The Administrator 
        shall transfer a computer received under paragraph (1) to a 
        public school, an educational nonprofit organization, or a 
        nonprofit computer refurbisher for repair and distribution in 
        accordance with subsection (b)(1).
            (3) Partnership.--The Administrator may establish a 
        partnership nonprofit computer refurbisher to facilitate the 
        identification of computer refurbisher organizations and the 
        distribution of computers to such computer refurbishers.
    (b) Duties of Nonprofit Computer Refurbishers.--
            (1) In general.--A computer refurbisher who receives a 
        computer under paragraph (1) or (2) shall repair and distribute 
        such computer to educational institution, a veteran, an 
        individual with a disability, a low-income individual, a 
        student, or a senior in need.
            (2) Training programs.--Each nonprofit computer refurbisher 
        to whom the Administrator of the General Services 
        Administration transfers a surplus computer or technology 
        equipment under subsection (a) shall offer training programs on 
        the use of computers and technology equipment for--
                    (A) educational institutions;
                    (B) veterans;
                    (C) individuals with disabilities;
                    (D) low-income individuals;
                    (E) students; and
                    (F) seniors.
            (3) Sense of congress.--It is the Sense of Congress that 
        each nonprofit computer refurbisher to whom the Administrator 
        of the General Services Administration transfers a surplus 
        computer or technology equipment under subsection (a) should 
        dispose of any such computer or technology that cannot be 
        reused due to age or condition--
                    (A) in compliance with any Federal, State, or local 
                law relating to the disposition of any information 
                technology assets that cannot be reused or refurbished 
                due to condition or age; and
                    (B) in ways that can still be leveraged to fulfill 
                their missions to bridge the digital divide.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Digital divide.--The gap between those who have an 
        internet-connected computer and the skills to use it, and those 
        who do not. Principle barriers to closing this gap include 
        access to devices, affordability, digital literacy, and access 
        to broadband.
            (2) Educational institution.--The term ``educational 
        institution'' means--
                    (A) any public or private child care center, 
                preschool, elementary school, secondary school, 
                accredited institution of vocational or professional 
                education, or institution of higher education; and
                    (B) in the case of an accredited institution of 
                vocational or professional education or an institution 
                of higher education composed of more than one school, 
                college, or department that is administratively a 
                separate unit, each such school, college, or 
                department.
            (3) Educational nonprofit.--The term ``educational 
        nonprofit'' means a nonprofit organization that has a training 
        component whereby the nonprofit organization trains the end 
        user of the computer equipment how to use such equipment and 
        that--
                    (A) has a mission related to education; or
                    (B) serves veterans, individuals with disabilities, 
                low-income individuals, or seniors.
            (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (5) Nonprofit computer refurbisher.--The term ``nonprofit 
        computer refurbisher'' means a nonprofit organization--
                    (A) that primarily works to improve access to 
                information and communication technology in order to 
                Bridge the Digital Divide; and
                    (B) that is exempt from taxation under section 
                501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
            (6) Secondary school.--The term ``secondary school'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 8101 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
            (7) Senior.--The term ``senior'' means any individual who 
        is 65 years of age or older.
            (8) Student.--The term ``student'' means any individual 
        enrolled in an educational institution, excluding a public or 
        private child care center.
            (9) Technology equipment.--The term ``technology 
        equipment'' means physical assets related to computers and 
        information technology, including peripheral components, 
        tablets, communication devices (such as routers, servers, and 
        cell phones), printers, scanners, uninterruptible power 
        sources, and cables and connections.
            (10) Veteran.--The term ``veteran'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.
    (d) Reporting.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and every three years thereafter, the Administrator shall 
submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the Administrator and the 
head of each Federal agency under this Act. Such report shall include--
            (1) the number of Federal computers retired in that time 
        period;
            (2) the number of those retired computers that were used in 
        this program (and the uses of retired computers that were not 
        included in this program);
            (3) the distribution split of those retired Federal 
        computers to public schools, educational non-profit 
        organizations, and a nonprofit computer refurbisher for repair 
        and distribution; and
            (4) the number of computers sent to computer refurbishers 
        and the number of computers that were donated under this 
        section.
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