1.This Act may be cited as
the Digital Opportunity Investment
Trust Act
.
2.
(a)There is established a nonprofit corporation to be known
as the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust
(referred to in this
Act as the Trust
) which shall not be an agency or establishment
of the United States Government. The Trust shall be subject to the provisions
of this section, and, to the extent consistent with this section, to the
District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation
Act (D.C. Code, section 29–501 et seq.).
(b)
(1)There is established in the Treasury a separate fund to
be known as the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust Fund
(referred to in this Act as the Trust Fund
). The Trust Fund
shall contain such amounts as are transferred to the Trust Fund under paragraph
(2) and any interest earned on the investment of amounts in the Trust Fund
under section 4.
(2)The Secretary of the Treasury shall in each fiscal quarter
through the last quarter of fiscal year 2028, transfer from the General Fund of
the Treasury to the Trust Fund, an amount equal to 30 percent of the proceeds
received by the Federal Government during the preceding fiscal quarter from any
use (including any auction, sale, fee derived from, or other revenue generated
from) of the electromagnetic spectrum conducted under
section
309 (or any other section) of the
Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C.
309 (j)) (or any other provision of Federal law) after
September 30, 2007.
(c)Board of
Directors; functions, and duties
(1)
(A)A board of directors of the Trust (referred to in this
Act as the Board
) shall be established to oversee the
administration of the Trust. Such Board shall consist of 9 members to be
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
who—
(i)reflect
representation from the public and private sectors;
(ii)are not regular
full-time employees of the Federal Government;
(iii)are eminent in
such fields as telecommunications including public television, information
technology, labor and workforce development, education, cultural and civic
affairs, or the arts and humanities;
(iv)shall provide,
as nearly as practicable, a broad representation of various regions of the
United States, various professions and occupations, and various kinds of talent
and experience appropriate to the functions and responsibilities of the Trust;
and
(v)shall be
responsible for establishing the priorities and funding obligations of the
Trust.
(B)The initial members of the Board shall serve as
incorporators of the Trust and shall take whatever actions are necessary to
establish the Trust under the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act (D.C. Code,
section 29–501 et seq.).
(C)The
Majority Leader of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, and the Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives shall jointly submit to the President recommendations of
individuals, selected from nominations submitted to Congress from associations
representing the fields of science and learning relative to the work of the
Board, to serve as members of the Board.
(D)
(i)Members
of the Board shall be appointed not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(ii)
(I)Except as provided in subclause (II), each member of the
Board shall be appointed for a 6-year term with terms set to expire in
non-Federal election years.
(II)With respect to the initial members of the Board—
- (aa)3
members shall serve for a term of 6 years;
- (bb)3
members shall serve for a term of 4 years; and
- (cc)3
members shall serve for a term of 2 years.
(iii)A
vacancy in the membership of the Board shall not affect the Board’s powers, and
shall be filled in the same manner as the original member was appointed.
(E)
(i)The
Board shall select, from among the members of the Board, an individual to serve
for a 2-year term as Chair of the Board and an individual to serve for a 2-year
term as vice-Chair of the Board.
(ii)An individual may not serve for more than 2 consecutive
terms as Chair of the Board.
(F)
(i)Not later than 30 days after the date on which all of the
members of the Board have been confirmed by the Senate, the Chair of the Board
shall call the first meeting of the Board.
(ii)A
majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser
number of members may hold hearings.
(G)
(i)Members
of the Board shall not receive compensation, allowances, or benefits by reason
of the members’ service on the Board.
(ii)The members of the Board shall be allowed travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for
employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United
States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the
performance of services for the Board.
(H)The Board from time to time may solicit advice
from—
(i)the
Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(ii)the Secretary of
Commerce;
(iii)the Secretary
of Education;
(iv)the Secretary of
Agriculture;
(v)the
Secretary of Defense;
(vi)the Secretary of
Energy;
(vii)the Secretary
of Homeland Security;
(viii)the Secretary
of the Interior;
(ix)the Secretary of
Labor;
(x)the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(xi)the Director of
the National Security Agency;
(xii)the Director of
the National Science Foundation;
(xiii)the Director
of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
(xiv)the Director of
the National Endowment for the Arts;
(xv)the Director of
the National Endowment for the Humanities;
(xvi)the Director of
the Institute of Museum and Library Services;
(xvii)the Librarian
of Congress; and
(xviii)the President
and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
(2)A
majority of the members of the Board shall select a Director of the Trust who
shall serve at the discretion of the Board and shall be responsible for
instituting procedures to carry out the policies and priorities established by
the Board, and for hiring all personnel of the Trust. The rate of compensation
of the Director and personnel shall be fixed by the Board.
(d)
(1)To achieve the objectives of this Act, the Director of the
Trust, after consultation with the Board, may use Trust funds—
(A)to support the
digitization of collections and other significant holdings of the nation's
universities, museums, libraries, public television stations, and other
cultural institutions;
(B)to support basic
and applied research, including demonstrations of innovative learning and
assessment systems as well as the components and tools needed to create
them;
(C)to use the
research results developed under subparagraph (B) to create prototype
applications designed to meet learning objectives in a variety of subject areas
and designed for learners with many different educational needs,
including—
(i)strengthening
instruction in reading, science, mathematics, history, and the arts in
elementary and secondary schools, community colleges, and other colleges and
universities;
(ii)providing the
training needed for people now in the workplace to advance in a constantly
changing work environment; and
(iii)developing new
applications for life-long learning in non-traditional learning environments
such as libraries, museums, senior and community centers, and public television
and radio;
(D)to conduct
assessments of legal, regulatory, and other issues that must be resolved to
ensure rapid development and use of advanced learning technologies; and
(E)to coordinate and
disseminate information about initiatives throughout the Federal Government
that focus on uses of technology in education and learning.
(2)
(A)In order to carry out the activities described in
paragraph (1), the Director of the Trust, with the agreement of a majority of
the members of the Board, may award contracts and grants to nonprofit public
institutions (with or without private partners) and for-profit organizations
and individuals.
(B)
(i)The research and development properties and materials
associated with a project in which a majority of the funding used to carry out
the project is from a grant or contract under this Act shall be freely and
nonexclusively available to the general public.
(ii)The
Director of the Trust may exempt specific projects from the requirement of
clause (i) if the Director of the Trust and a majority of the members of the
Board determine that the general public will benefit significantly in the long
run due to the project not being freely and nonexclusively available to the
general public.
(C)To the extent practicable, proposals for such contracts
or grants shall be evaluated on the basis of comparative merit by panels of
experts who represent diverse interests and perspectives, and who are appointed
by the Director of the Trust from recommendations from the fields served and
the Board of Directors.
(3)The
Director of the Trust, after consultation with the Board, may cooperate with
business, industry, philanthropy, noncommercial education broadcast, television
and radio licensees and permittees, and local and national public service
institutions, including in activities that seek to enhance the work of such
public service institutions by seeking new ways to put telecommunications and
information technologies to work in their areas of interest.
3.Accountability
and reporting
(a)
(1)Not later than April 30 of each year, the Director of the
Trust shall prepare a report for the preceding fiscal year that contains the
information described in paragraph (2).
(2)A
report under paragraph (1) shall include—
(A)a comprehensive
and detailed report of the Trust’s operations, activities, financial condition,
and accomplishments, and such recommendations as the Director of the Trust
determines appropriate; and
(B)a comprehensive
and detailed inventory of funds distributed from the Trust Fund during the
fiscal year for which the report is being prepared.
(3)Each report under paragraph (1) shall include a
statement from the Board containing—
(A)a clear
description of the plans and priorities of the Board for the subsequent 5-year
period for expenditures from the Trust Fund; and
(B)an estimate of
the funds that will be available for such expenditures from the Trust
Fund.
(4)Submission to
the President and CongressA report under this subsection shall
be submitted to the President and the appropriate committees of
Congress.
(b)The
Chair of the Board, other members of the Board, and the Director and principal
officers of the Trust shall testify before the appropriate committees of
Congress, upon request of such committees, with respect to—
(1)a report prepared
under subsection (a)(1); and
(2)any other matter
that such committees may determine appropriate.
4.Investment of
Trust Funds
(a)The Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with
the Board, shall invest the funds of the Trust Fund in interest-bearing
obligations of the United States or in obligations guaranteed as to both
principal and interest by the United States.
(b)
(1)The Director of the Trust shall not undertake grant or
contract activities under this Act until the Trust has received the interest or
other proceeds from the investment of the Trust Funds for not less than 1
year’s duration. Thereafter, upon Board approval of the annual budget of the
Trust, the Director of the Trust may commence such grant or contract activities
at the start of each fiscal year.
(2)
(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in awarding
grants or contracts or making other expenditures under this Act, the Director
of the Trust shall not obligate funds from the Trust that exceed the proceeds
received from the investment of the funds in the Trust Fund during the
preceding fiscal year.
(B)Funds from the Trust Fund that are available for obligation
for a fiscal year that are not obligated for such fiscal year shall remain
available for obligation for the succeeding fiscal year.
5.Special account
for distribution to public television stations
(a)An
amount equivalent to 21 percent of the interest derived from the investment
proceeds referred to in section 2(b)(2) shall be reserved in a special account
within the Trust Fund for distribution on a regular basis to those
noncommercial educational television broadcast stations (as defined in section
397(6) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397(6)) that are qualified
to receive grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting pursuant to
section 396(k)(6)(B) of such Act (47 U.S.C. 396(k)(6)(B)) and to the Public
Broadcasting Service in partnership with such stations.
(b)Responsibility
for distributionThe Director of the Trust shall—
(1)through a special
contract, designate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as the sole agent
responsible for the distribution of funds under this section; and
(2)transfer the
funds referred to in subsection (a) to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
on a regular basis.
(c)In
making the distribution referred to in subsection (a), the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting shall utilize a competitive grant application process that
is governed by criteria that ensures that funds are directed to the creation of
locally delivered digital education and learning services and ensures that a
diversity of licensee types and geographic service areas are adequately served.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting shall develop such criteria in
consultation with public television licensees, permitees, and representatives
designated by their national organizations.