H.R. 9493

119 HR 9493 IH: Home Internet Accessibility Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-06-25
 text/xml
 EN
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 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 9493  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   June 25, 2026   Ms. Williams of Georgia  (for herself,  Mr. Jackson of Illinois ,  Mr. Magaziner ,  Mr. Carter of Louisiana ,  Mr. Vasquez ,  Mr. Carson ,  Mr. Lynch , and  Mrs. Hayes ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Financial Services    A BILL
To require the Comptroller General to submit to Congress a report on the capacity of federally assisted housing to support broadband service, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Home Internet Accessibility Act  .
2.
Comptroller General report on the capacity of federally assisted housing to support broadband service
(a)
In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the capacity of federally assisted housing to support broadband service.
(b)
Contents
The report required under subsection (a) shall include—
(1)
an analysis that identifies which federally assisted housing has access to broadband service and which such housing does not have access to broadband service, disaggregated by State, congressional district, ZIP Code, and census tract, that includes demographic information and any Federal agency responsible for such housing;
(2)
an analysis of which such housing does not currently have the capacity to support broadband service deployment and would require retrofitting to support broadband service deployment, disaggregated by State, congressional district, ZIP Code, and census tract, that includes demographic information and any Federal agency responsible for such housing;
(3)
an analysis of the estimated costs and timeframe necessary for all federally assisted housing to have the capacity to support broadband service;
(4)
an analysis of the challenges to more widespread deployment of broadband service, including the comparative market dynamics to expansion in rural areas and low-income urban and suburban areas, and the challenges to pursuing retrofits for all federally assisted housing to have the capacity to support broadband service;
(5)
descriptions of lessons learned from previous retrofitting actions;
(6)
an evaluation of the ConnectHome pilot program of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and
(7)
recommendations for Congress to allow for all federally assisted housing to have the capacity to support broadband service under a range of specific projected timelines.
3.
Plan for broadband connectivity in federally assisted housing
(a)
In general
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in consultation with the Comptroller General and other relevant heads of Federal agencies, shall—
(1)
develop a plan for retrofitting federally assisted housing, as necessary, to support broadband service; and
(2)
submit such plan to the Congress not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b)
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
Broadband Service
The term  broadband service  has the meaning given the term  broadband internet access service  in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.
(2)
federally assisted housing
The term  federally assisted housing  means any dwelling that constitutes or contains a housing unit that is assisted under a program administered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or the Secretary of Agriculture.
(3)
State
The term  State  means each State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.