Congressional Budget Office

The Broadband Interagency Coordination Act of 2019 (S.1294) would require the Federal Communication Commission, Department of Agriculture, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to enter into an interagency agreement to coordinate how federal funding for the deployment of broadband internet technologies is distributed. The agreement would cover data and information sharing among those agencies.

The Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act (S.1289) would require the Department of Commerce to submit a report to the Congress assessing the effects of broadband deployment on the U.S. economy. The first report would be due two years after the bill’s enactment, with subsequent reports due every two years. Such reports would consider the effect of e-commerce, peer-to-peer commerce (such as Etsy), and the production of digital media on the U.S. economy.

The Digital Global Access Policy Act (HR 1359) would direct the Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to collaborate with other agencies, international organizations, foreign governments, and other entities to promote the availability of access to the Internet in developing countries. In addition, the bill would require the Administration to report to the Congress on its policy to promote such access.

The Save the Internet Act (HR 1644) would require the Federal Communications Commission to return to the regulatory framework for Internet service providers (ISPs) that was in effect as of Jan 19, 2017. Restoring the 2015 regulatory framework could increase oversight and enforcement actions by the FCC and could reduce enforcement and oversight by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice. Spending on such increased FCC activities would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The 21st Century IDEA (HR 5759) would require agencies to update their websites, increase the use of electronic forms, implement the use of e-signatures, standardize information technology (IT) throughout the federal government, and improve the overall government IT experience for users. From Congressional Budget Office’s review of the current federal digital environment, it is not clear that agencies would take any extra steps to implement HR 5759 beyond those measures already under way or planned.