[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8040 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8040

  To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to 
  establish a grant program to facilitate the provision of high-speed 
 broadband service to small business concerns in rural areas, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 14, 2020

Mr. Golden (for himself and Mr. Stauber) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to 
  establish a grant program to facilitate the provision of high-speed 
 broadband service to small business concerns in rural areas, 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 ``Small Business Last Mile Act of 
2020''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND SERVICE.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration shall establish a program (in this Act referred to as 
the ``Program'') to facilitate the provision of high-speed broadband 
service to rural small business concerns.
    (b) Grant Authority.--In carrying out the Program, the 
Administrator shall award a grant to each eligible State that submits 
an application.
    (c) Eligible Recipients.--
            (1) Eligible state.--The Administrator shall award a grant 
        under the Program each year to a State that submits an 
        application pursuant to subsection (d).
            (2) Eligible subgrant recipient.--
                    (A) In general.--An eligible State may award a 
                subgrant under the Program to any entity, or group of 
                entities, determined by the eligible State to have the 
                authority and capability to carry out a project 
                described in subsection (d).
                    (B) Not required to be eligible telecommunication 
                carrier.--A determination of authority and capability 
                under subparagraph (A) may not require a subgrant 
                recipient to be designated as an eligible 
                telecommunications carrier under section 214(e) of the 
                Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 214(e)).
    (d) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under the Program, a 
State shall submit to the Administrator an application that 
demonstrates that the State--
            (1) prior to the date of application for a grant under the 
        Program, has experience managing a State or Federal grant 
        program to facilitate the provision of high-speed broadband 
        service;
            (2) maintains a State broadband plan;
            (3) has updated the State broadband plan under paragraph 
        (2) in the five years prior to the date a State submits an 
        application for a grant under the Program;
            (4) agrees to subgrant any awarded funds to an eligible 
        subgrant recipient;
            (5) agrees to conduct a periodic financial audit of 
        eligible subgrant recipients who have received a subgrant under 
        the Program;
            (6) ensures proper disbursement and accounting for Federal 
        funds awarded under the Program, including demonstrating that 
        if awarded a subgrant under the Program--
                    (A) such award has been used to assist an eligible 
                project; and
                    (B) that a State has recovered an award from a 
                subgrant recipient who has not complied with the 
                requirements of the Program; and
            (7) possesses any other administrative or technical 
        capacity that the Administrator deems necessary for the success 
        of the Program.
    (e) Eligible Projects.--
            (1) In general.--Grant funds awarded under the Program may 
        only be used to assist a project that makes available eligible 
        infrastructure necessary to provide high-speed broadband 
        service to a rural small business concern.
            (2) Restriction on duplication.--
                    (A) In general.--Grant funds awarded under the 
                Program may not be used to assist a project that makes 
                available duplicative eligible infrastructure to a 
                small business concern located in a rural area.
                    (B) Determination of duplicative infrastructure.--
                            (i) In general.--An eligible State shall 
                        determine the presence of duplicative eligible 
                        infrastructure using broadband infrastructure 
                        geolocation data from Federal, State, or 
                        commercial sources.
                            (ii) Process to challenge determination.--
                                    (I) Publication requirement.--An 
                                eligible State shall make available to 
                                the public the location of proposed 
                                eligible infrastructure for which a 
                                subgrant application has been submitted 
                                to the eligible State.
                                    (II) Opportunity to challenge 
                                determination.--Not later than 15 days 
                                prior to the award of a subgrant, an 
                                eligible State shall allow a provider 
                                of eligible infrastructure the 
                                opportunity to submit information 
                                regarding the location of such 
                                infrastructure so that the eligible 
                                State may determine whether a project 
                                to be awarded a subgrant will make 
                                available duplicative eligible 
                                infrastructure.
    (f) Priority.--In making a grant under the Program, the 
Administrator shall give priority to an eligible project based on the 
number of small business concerns located in a rural area provided 
high-speed broadband service by the project.
    (g) Grant Amount Awarded.--In making a grant under the Program, the 
Administrator shall award an eligible State the amount equaling the 
ratio of the number of individuals in the eligible State who reside in 
a rural area divided by the number of individuals who reside in a rural 
area in all eligible States that have been approved under the Program, 
multiplied by the total amount of funds authorized to be appropriated 
under subsection (k)(2).
    (h) Limitations on a Subgrant Amount.--The amount of a subgrant 
under the Program--
            (1) if awarded to an entity providing high-speed broadband 
        service to a single small business concern, may not exceed 
        $15,000; or
            (2) if awarded to an entity providing high-speed broadband 
        service to more than one small business concern, may not exceed 
        $35,000.
    (i) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of a project 
assisted with a grant under the Program shall not exceed 75 percent.
    (j) Evaluation of Program.--
            (1) Report to administrator.--Not later than 30 months 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, each eligible 
        State shall submit to the Administrator a report demonstrating 
        the information required pursuant to subsection (d)(6).
            (2) Report to congress.--Not later than three years after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 
        submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and 
        Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the Program that 
        includes a description of--
                    (A) the number of grants awarded under the Program;
                    (B) the total amount of funding expended on 
                eligible infrastructure pursuant to the Program;
                    (C) the number of small business concerns in rural 
                areas provided eligible infrastructure as a result of 
                the Program during the two-year period beginning on the 
                date on which the Administrator first awards a grant 
                under the Program; and
                    (D) the number of miles of eligible infrastructure 
                made available pursuant to the Program.
    (k) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
        carry out the Program $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 
        through 2023.
            (2) Reservation for grants.--Not less than 97 percent of 
        funds appropriated for the Program shall be reserved for 
        providing grants to eligible States.
            (3) Reservation for administration.--Not more than 3 
        percent of funds appropriated for the Program may be used by 
        the Administrator to administer the Program.

SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT ON BROADBAND SERVICE SPEEDS AND PRICING.

    (a) Study.--The Administrator of the Small Business Administration 
shall conduct a survey of a representative sample of small business 
concerns located in rural areas on--
            (1) the speeds of broadband service available to small 
        business concerns located in rural areas;
            (2) the prices for broadband service available to small 
        business concerns located in rural areas;
            (3) the types of broadband service technology used by small 
        business concerns located in rural areas;
            (4) the type of broadband service available to small 
        business concerns located in rural areas, specifically whether 
        it is best-effort service or service with guaranteed quality-
        of-service benchmarks; and
            (5) the primary purposes for which small business concerns 
        located in rural areas use their broadband connections and 
        whether their current broadband service enables them to 
        satisfactorily carry out each of these purposes.
    (b) Report.--Not later than three years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee 
on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the 
results of the study conducted under subsection (a) that includes 
policy recommendations for improving the access of small business 
concerns to affordable high-speed broadband service.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Eligible infrastructure.--The term ``eligible 
        infrastructure'' means infrastructure of a type with the 
        demonstrated capability to facilitate broadband service for 
        which--
                    (A) 95 percent or more of all peak period 
                measurements of--
                            (i) downstream transmission capacity are at 
                        or above 50 Mbps;
                            (ii) upstream transmission capacity are at 
                        or above 50 Mbps; and
                            (iii) network round trip latency are at or 
                        below 100 milliseconds; and
                    (B) an end-user's monthly data cap is at or above 2 
                terabytes.
            (2) Rural area.--The term ``rural area'' has the meaning 
        given such term under section 601(b)(3) of the Rural 
        Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 950bb(b)(3)).
            (3) Rural small business concern.--The term ``rural small 
        business concern'' means a small business concern that has its 
        principal office located in a rural area.
            (4) Small business concern.--The term ``small business 
        concern'' has the meaning given such term under section 3 of 
        the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given such 
        term under section 12052 of the Small Business Disaster 
        Response and Loan Improvements Act of 2008 (15 U.S.C. 636e).
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