Congress·In Committee·S. 4438

Promoting Access to Broadband Act of 2026

Broadband Access: Outreach for Low-Income Families

2 months ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is currently in the early stages of the legislative process and is being reviewed by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It is actively moving forward after being introduced and referred to the committee for further study. There are no upcoming votes scheduled at this time.

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

The bill is sponsored only by Democrats and has been sent to a committee where many similar bills often stall without bipartisan support.

Key Points

This bill creates a new grant program run by the Federal Communications Commission. It would give money to states to help them find and notify people who qualify for the Lifeline program. Lifeline is a federal service that provides monthly discounts on phone or internet bills for low-income households.
States that get these grants would partner with local nonprofits and community groups. These organizations would help people fill out applications and explain the different types of technology available. The goal is to reach millions of people who are eligible for the discount but are not currently enrolled.
The plan also provides funding to help states connect their own databases to the national system that checks eligibility. This would make the sign-up process faster and more automatic. For example, if someone already receives food stamps, the system could instantly confirm they qualify for the internet discount.
The Federal Communications Commission would have to report to Congress after three years to show if the program is working. This report would include the number of new people who signed up and how much the outreach efforts cost per person.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Apr 29, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text: CR S2131-2132)

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Apr 29, 2026

Introduced in Senate

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

News

No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Promoting Access to Broadband Act of 2026

Bill NumberS 4438

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text: CR S2131-2132)

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(5)

D: 5

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.