S. 774: A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the Federal Communications Commission's universal service reforms.

113th Congress · introduced 2013-04-22 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2013-04-22 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Begich, Mark [D-AK] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the Federal Communications Commission's universal service reforms.

Plain summary

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO), beginning on or before December 31, 2013, and annually thereafter for the following five years, to prepare a report to aid Congress in monitoring and measuring the effects of a series of reforms by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intended to promote the availability and affordability of broadband service throughout the United States. Requires such report to include measurements, statistics, and metrics with respect to: the implementation progress on the reforms adopted in the FCC's Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted on October 27, 2011; any effects of such reforms on retail end-user rates for local voice telephony, interconnected VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol), long distance voice, mobile wireless voice, bundles of voice telephony or VoIP, fixed broadband Internet access, and mobile broadband Internet access services; any disparities or trends with respect to the relative average (such as per consumer) retail rates charged for each service to residential and business consumers located in rural and urban areas as well as between incumbent local exchange carriers subject to price cap regulation and those subject to rate-of-return regulation; any effects on average fixed and mobile broadband Internet access speeds available to residential and business consumers as well as speed disparities between rural and urban areas; any effects on the magnitude and pace of investments in broadband-capable networks in rural areas, including investments financed by the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, and investment disparities between rural and urban areas; any disparities or trends with respect to the magnitude and pace of investments in broadband-capable networks in areas served by carriers subject to price cap regulation and areas served by carriers subject to rate-of-return regulation; any effects on adoption of broadband Internet access services by end users; and any effects on state universal service funds or initiatives, including carrier-of-last-resort requirements.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of the Federal Communications Commission's universal service reforms.

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

AI explanation – may be wrong, check the official text

No AI explanation yet. It takes up to a minute to write and is then saved for everyone.

Limited to a few requests an hour per person.

The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Arguments against (opponents)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Begich, Mark [D-AK] · 9 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Agencies named in this bill

Federal Communications Commission: its federal spending and other bills that name it

Found automatically: the agency's full official name appears in the bill title. A bill can affect agencies it does not name, so this list may be incomplete.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Ballot initiative: A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-113s774.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/113/s>

Record fed-us-cong113-s774 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113