,i #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #fefc ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,april #ba1 #bjbj,ms4 ,meng introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce ,a ,,bill ,to provide for ,e-,rate support for ,wi-,fi hotspots1 modems1 routers1 and connected devices during emergency periods relating to ,,covid-#ai1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,emergency ,educational ,connections ,act of #bjbj4 #b4 ,e-,rate support for ,wi-,fi hotspots1 other equipment1 and connected devices during emergency periods relating to ,,covid-#ai 7a7 ,regulations required ,not later than #g days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,commission shall promulgate regulations providing for the provision1 from amounts made available from the ,emergency ,connectivity ,fund established under subsection 7i77#a71 of support under section #bed7;h77#a77;,b7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bed7;h77#a77;,b77 to an elementary school1 secondary school1 or library 7including a ,tribal elementary school1 ,tribal secondary school1 or ,tribal library7 eligible for support under such section1 for the purchase during an emergency period described in subsection 7e7 7including any portion of such a period occurring before the date of the enactment of this ,act7 of equipment described in subsection 7c71 advanced telecommunications and information services1 or equipment described in such subsection and advanced telecommunications and information services1 for use by-- 7#a7 in the case of a school1 students and staff of such school at locations that include locations other than such school2 and 7#b7 in the case of a library1 patrons of such library at locations that include locations other than such library4 7b7 ,eligibility of ,tribal libraries ,for purposes of determining the eligibility of a ,tribal library for support under the regulations required by subsection 7a71 the portion of paragraph 7#d7 of section #bed7;h7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bed7;h77 relating to eligibility for assistance from a ,state library administrative agency under the ,library ,services and ,technology ,act shall not apply4 7c7 ,equipment described ,the equipment described in this subsection is the following3 7#a7 ,wi-,fi hotspots4 7#b7 ,modems4 7#c7 ,routers4 7#d7 ,devices that combine a modem and router4 7#e7 ,connected devices4 7d7 ,prioritization of support ,the ,commission shall provide in the regulations required by subsection 7a7 for a mechanism to require a school or library to prioritize the provision of equipment described in subsection 7c71 advanced telecommunications and information services1 or equipment described in such subsection and advanced telecommunications and information services1 for which support is received under such regulations1 to students and staff or patrons 7as the case may be7 that the school or library believes do not have access to equipment described in subsection 7c71 do not have access to advanced telecommunications and information services1 or have access to neither equipment described in subsection 7c7 nor advanced telecommunications and information services1 at the residences of such students and staff or patrons4 7e7 ,emergency periods described ,an emergency period described in this subsection is the duration of a public health emergency declared pursuant to section #cai of the ,public ,health ,service ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #bdg;d7 as a result of ,,covid-#ai1 including any renewal thereof4 7f7 ,treatment of equipment after emergency period ,the ,commission shall provide in the regulations required by subsection 7a7 that1 in the case of a school or library that purchases equipment described in subsection 7c7 using support received under such regulations1 such school or library-- 7#a7 may1 after the emergency period with respect to which such support is received1 use such equipment for such purposes as such school or library considers appropriate1 subject to any restrictions provided in such regulations 7or any successor regulation72 and 7#b7 may not sell or otherwise transfer such equipment in exchange for any thing 7including a service7 of value1 except that such school or library may exchange such equipment for upgraded equipment of the same type4 7g7 ,rule of construction ,nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any authority the ,commission may have under section #bed7;h77#a77;,b7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bed7;h77#a77;,b77 to allow support under such section to be used for the purposes described in subsection 7a7 other than as required by such subsection4 7h7 ,procedural matters 7#a7 ,part #ed regulations ,nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the ,commission from providing that the regulations in part #ed of title #dg1 ,code of ,federal ,regulations1 shall apply in whole or in part to support provided under the regulations required by subsection 7a71 shall not apply in whole or in part to such support1 or shall be modified in whole or in part for purposes of application to such support4 7#b7 ,exemption from certain rulemaking requirements ,subsections 7b71 7c71 and 7d7 of section #eec of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code1 shall not apply to a regulation promulgated under subsection 7a7 of this section or a rulemaking to promulgate such a regulation4 7#c7 ,paperwork ,reduction ,act exemption ,a collection of information conducted or sponsored under the regulations required by subsection 7a71 or under section #bed of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bed7 in connection with support provided under such regulations1 shall not constitute a collection of information for the purposes of subchapter ,i of chapter #ce of title #dd1 ,united ,states ,code 7commonly referred to as the ,paperwork ,reduction ,act74 7i7 ,emergency ,connectivity ,fund 7#a7 ,establishment ,there is established in the ,treasury of the ,united ,states a fund to be known as the ,emergency ,connectivity ,fund4 7#b7 ,appropriation ,there is appropriated to the ,emergency ,connectivity ,fund1 out of any money in the ,treasury not otherwise appropriated1 #b1jjj1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjbj1 to remain available through fiscal year #bjba4 7#c7 ,use of funds ,amounts in the ,emergency ,connectivity ,fund shall be available to the ,commission to provide support under the regulations required by subsection 7a74 7#d7 ,relationship to universal service contributions ,support provided under the regulations required by subsection 7a7 shall be provided from amounts made available under paragraph 7#c7 and not from contributions under section #bed7;d7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bed7;d774 7j7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,advanced telecommunications and information services ,the term advanced telecommunications and information services means advanced telecommunications and information services1 as such term is used in section #bed7;h7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bed7;h774 7#b7 ,commission ,the term ,commission means the ,federal ,communications ,commission4 7#c7 ,connected device ,the term connected device means a laptop computer1 tablet computer1 or similar device that is capable of connecting to advanced telecommunications and information services4 7#d7 ,library ,the term library includes a library consortium4 7#e7 ,wi-,fi ,the term ,wi-,fi means a wireless networking protocol based on ,institute of ,electrical and ,electronics ,engineers standard #hjb4aa 7or any successor standard74 7#f7 ,wi-,fi hotspot ,the term ,wi-,fi hotspot means a device that is capable of-- 7,a7 receiving mobile advanced telecommunications and information services2 and 7,b7 sharing such services with another device through the use of ,wi-,fi4