ACCESS Rural America Act

Bill: 117-hr-9445
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Tiffany, Thomas P. [R-WI-7]
Introduced: 2022-12-06
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Latest action: action_date: 2022-12-06
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-12-06
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Access to Capital Creates Economic Strength and Supports Rural America Act or the ACCESS Rural America Act </b></p> <p>This bill increases&nbsp;the shareholder registration threshold for issuers receiving support through federal universal service support mechanisms, which provide communication services to underserved areas.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9445 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 6, 2022 Mr. Tiffany introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 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.

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 . 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 the Federal universal service support mechanism for rural, insular, and high cost areas 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, and did not issue securities (other than splitting of existing securities) during the previous fiscal year and does not intend to do so during the present 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 2,000 or more persons, ; 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) Mandatory disclosures by certain universal service support mechanism recipients (A) In general The Commission shall issue regulations to establish a financial summary form that shall, upon request by an investor, be made available by an issuer that— (i) during its previous fiscal year, received support, directly or through an affiliate, through the Federal universal service support mechanism for rural, insular, and high cost areas 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 not fewer than 500, and fewer than, 2,000 persons. (B) Contents The form described in subparagraph (A) shall include— (i) a summary of the consolidated balance sheet and the consolidated income statement of the issuer; (ii) a certification that the issuer did not issue securities (other than splitting of existing securities) during the previous fiscal year and does not intend to do so during the present fiscal year; and (iii) such other information as the Commission determines is necessary and appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors. .