,i #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #hjdj ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,august #ad1 #bjbj,mr4 ,golden 7for himself and ,mr4 ,stauber7 introduced the following bill2 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 areas1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,small ,business ,last ,mile ,act of #bjbj4 #b4 ,grant program to provide high-speed broadband service 7a7 ,establishment ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,administrator of the ,small ,business ,administration shall establish a program 7in this ,act referred to as the ,program7 to facilitate the provision of high-speed broadband service to rural small business concerns4 7b7 ,grant authority ,in carrying out the ,program1 the ,administrator shall award a grant to each eligible ,state that submits an application4 7c7 ,eligible recipients 7#a7 ,eligible ,state ,the ,administrator shall award a grant under the ,program each year to a ,state that submits an application pursuant to subsection 7d74 7#b7 ,eligible subgrant recipient 7,a7 ,in general ,an eligible ,state may award a subgrant under the ,program to any entity1 or group of entities1 determined by the eligible ,state to have the authority and capability to carry out a project described in subsection 7d74 7,b7 ,not required to be eligible telecommunication carrier ,a determination of authority and capability under subparagraph 7,a7 may not require a subgrant recipient to be designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier under section #bad7;e7 of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #bad7;e774 7d7 ,application ,to be eligible for a grant under the ,program1 a ,state shall submit to the ,administrator an application that demonstrates that the ,state-- 7#a7 prior to the date of application for a grant under the ,program1 has experience managing a ,state or ,federal grant program to facilitate the provision of high-speed broadband service2 7#b7 maintains a ,state broadband plan2 7#c7 has updated the ,state broadband plan under paragraph 7#b7 in the five years prior to the date a ,state submits an application for a grant under the ,program2 7#d7 agrees to subgrant any awarded funds to an eligible subgrant recipient2 7#e7 agrees to conduct a periodic financial audit of eligible subgrant recipients who have received a subgrant under the ,program2 7#f7 ensures proper disbursement and accounting for ,federal funds awarded under the ,program1 including demonstrating that if awarded a subgrant under the ,program-- 7,a7 such award has been used to assist an eligible project2 and 7,b7 that a ,state has recovered an award from a subgrant recipient who has not complied with the requirements of the ,program2 and 7#g7 possesses any other administrative or technical capacity that the ,administrator deems necessary for the success of the ,program4 7e7 ,eligible projects 7#a7 ,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 concern4 7#b7 ,restriction on duplication 7,a7 ,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 area4 7,b7 ,determination of duplicative infrastructure 7i7 ,in general ,an eligible ,state shall determine the presence of duplicative eligible infrastructure using broadband infrastructure geolocation data from ,federal1 ,state1 or commercial sources4 7ii7 ,process to challenge determination 7,i7 ,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 ,state4 7,,ii7 ,opportunity to challenge determination ,not later than #ae days prior to the award of a subgrant1 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 infrastructure4 7f7 ,priority ,in making a grant under the ,program1 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 project4 7g7 ,grant amount awarded ,in making a grant under the ,program1 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 ,program1 multiplied by the total amount of funds authorized to be appropriated under subsection 7k77#b74 7h7 ,limitations on a subgrant amount ,the amount of a subgrant under the ,program-- 7#a7 if awarded to an entity providing high-speed broadband service to a single small business concern1 may not exceed #ae1jjj2 or 7#b7 if awarded to an entity providing high-speed broadband service to more than one small business concern1 may not exceed #ce1jjj4 7i7 ,federal share ,the ,federal share of the cost of a project assisted with a grant under the ,program shall not exceed #ge percent4 7j7 ,evaluation of ,program 7#a7 ,report to ,administrator ,not later than #cj months after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 each eligible ,state shall submit to the ,administrator a report demonstrating the information required pursuant to subsection 7d77#f74 7#b7 ,report to ,congress ,not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 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-- 7,a7 the number of grants awarded under the ,program2 7,b7 the total amount of funding expended on eligible infrastructure pursuant to the ,program2 7,c7 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 ,program2 and 7,d7 the number of miles of eligible infrastructure made available pursuant to the ,program4 7k7 ,authorization of appropriations 7#a7 ,in general ,there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the ,program #be1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal years #bjbj through #bjbc4 7#b7 ,reservation for grants ,not less than #ig percent of funds appropriated for the ,program shall be reserved for providing grants to eligible ,states4 7#c7 ,reservation for administration ,not more than #c percent of funds appropriated for the ,program may be used by the ,administrator to administer the ,program4 #c4 ,study and report on broadband service speeds and pricing 7a7 ,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-- 7#a7 the speeds of broadband service available to small business concerns located in rural areas2 7#b7 the prices for broadband service available to small business concerns located in rural areas2 7#c7 the types of broadband service technology used by small business concerns located in rural areas2 7#d7 the type of broadband service available to small business concerns located in rural areas1 specifically whether it is best-effort service or service with guaranteed quality-of-service benchmarks2 and 7#e7 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 purposes4 7b7 ,report ,not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 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 7a7 that includes policy recommendations for improving the access of small business concerns to affordable high-speed broadband service4 #d4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,eligible infrastructure ,the term eligible infrastructure means infrastructure of a type with the demonstrated capability to facilitate broadband service for which-- 7,a7 #ie percent or more of all peak period measurements of-- 7i7 downstream transmission capacity are at or above #ej ,mbps2 7ii7 upstream transmission capacity are at or above #ej ,mbps2 and 7iii7 network round trip latency are at or below #ajj milliseconds2 and 7,b7 an end-user's monthly data cap is at or above #b terabytes4 7#b7 ,rural area ,the term rural area has the meaning given such term under section #fja7;b77#c7 of the ,rural ,electrification ,act of #aicf 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #iej;bb7b77#c774 7#c7 ,rural small business concern ,the term rural small business concern means a small business concern that has its principal office located in a rural area4 7#d7 ,small business concern ,the term 8small business concern0 has the meaning given such term under section #c of the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fcb74 7#e7 ,state ,the term ,state has the meaning given such term under section #abjeb of the ,small ,business ,disaster ,response and ,loan ,improvements ,act of #bjjh 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fcf;e74