Sponsors (8)
The bill aims to improve broadband access in federally assisted housing through clearer plans, data, and consistent federal guidance—benefiting low-income residents and helping agencies target resources—at the cost of increased federal spending, privacy and administrative burdens, and potential delays or coordination challenges in implementation.
Residents of federally assisted housing (low-income tenants and renters) would receive clearer plans, timelines, and guidance to achieve in-unit broadband-capable connections, improving access for work, education, and telehealth.
State and local governments and federal agencies would get detailed, disaggregated data and a consistent federal planning standard (aligned with the FCC definition) to better target funding and resources to areas and populations lacking broadband in assisted housing, including U.S. territories.
Identifying retrofit costs and lessons learned would improve program design and implementation, reducing future project delays and overspending and improving cost-effectiveness of housing connectivity projects.
Taxpayers could face increased federal spending or reallocation of HUD/USDA resources to retrofit units and close connectivity gaps in assisted housing.
Complex coordination across many programs, states, and territories and the identification of substantial infrastructure needs could delay actual upgrades beyond the planning timeline and complicate implementation for residents.
Collecting fine-grained demographic and location data raises privacy risks for assisted-housing residents if data handling and protections are insufficient.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires a GAO report mapping broadband access and needs in federally assisted housing and requires HUD to submit a retrofit plan to enable broadband service.
Requires a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study mapping broadband availability and retrofit needs across federally assisted housing and requires HUD to deliver a plan to retrofit such housing to support broadband. The GAO must report within one year with maps, cost and timeline estimates, barriers, lessons learned, and recommendations; HUD must submit a retrofit plan within 18 months that uses the GAO input and federal agency consultation. The bill defines which housing counts as federally assisted and adopts the federal regulatory definition of "broadband service," and extends coverage to all states and U.S. territories for reporting and planning purposes.
Official title: 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.
Introduced June 25, 2026 by Nikema Williams · Last progress June 25, 2026