SCHOOLS HEALTH AND LIBRARIES BROADBAND COALITION
1250 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036 www.shlb.org

---

Organizations Filed Purposes: The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization that seeks to address the "digital divide" by advocating for government policies that allow schools, libraries, health providers, commercial and non-commercial companies and others to invest in broadband networks that serve the public, especially in rural markets.

The SHLB Coalition is a mission-driven, membership-supported organization. SHLB's stated mission is "for every anchor institution in the country to have affordable, high-quality broadband that is open and accessible to the surrounding community."

SHLB hosted its ninth annual conference in Washington, D.C. The flagship event drew over 300 broadband champions who came to discuss the most pressing policy issues facing community anchor institution connectivity. The three-day event opened with a keynote from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who presented the importance of telehealth solutions for rural communities. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks delivered the second keynote of the event. His initial remarks celebrated the many ways that libraries serve their constituents. Former NTIA Head Larry Irving joined Commissioner Starks on stage, moderating a Q&A to help the SHLB community get to know the FCC's newest Commissioner. Acting Administrator of the NTIA Diane Rinaldo spoke to SHLB showgoers on day three, providing an update on NTIA's mapping pilot, the BroadbandUSA program, and the agency's ongoing efforts to make broadband ubiquitous for all Americans.

In 2019, SHLB acquired 34 new members, bringing SHLB membership to 176 organizations. SHLB provides a forum for broadband advocacy where members share best practices, network and get regulatory and legislative updates. Members convene frequently for policy calls with the full membership, and for smaller working policy groups on E-rate, the RHC program, spectrum, infrastructure legislation, and the joint Universal Service Fund petition.

The SHLB Coalition continued its strong emphasis on advocacy to promote high-quality broadband for schools, libraries, health providers, and other anchor institutions. SHLB worked tirelessly in 2019 to address numerous broadband policy issues. In February, the FCC waived and proposed to eliminate the amortization requirement for special construction projects in the E-rate program. SHLB brought this issue to the Commission's attention with an ex parte filing in October 2018, which the FCC cited twice in the NPRM. Chairman Pai thanked SHLB on Twitter. In December, the FCC made the Category Two Budget Approach a permanent fixture of the E-rate program. The decision provides schools and libraries greater funding certainty and flexibility to meet their connectivity needs. The Report and Order cites SHLB's joint comments multiple times. Regarding Rural Healthcare, SHLB worked with its telehealth members and petitioned the FCC to reconsider portions of its "Promoting Telehealth in Rural America" Report and Order, adopted in August 2019. SHLB released a report called"The Economics of Keeping the "E" in EBS" in 2019. The report published findings on the economic and social effects of our proposal to award EBS licenses to educational institutions and Tribal Nations. The report compared SHLB's EBS proposal with the idea of auctioning spectrum and found that licensing EBS to schools and Tribal Nations would reduce the digital divide by 18.38 percent as well as close the homework gap by 29.6 percent. On March 7, SHLB hosted "Window of Opportunity" on Capitol Hill to show lawmakers the many ways that organizations and anchor institutions can address the digital divide by using the Educational Broadband Service. Also, SHLB increased its advocacy on the Hill. SHLB collaborated with House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone's staff to authorize funding for broadband to anchors in the LIFT America Act, and SHLB wrote a letter to the House Commerce Committee asking that they ensure the Broadband DATA Act directs the FCC to map anchor institutions. Representative Anna Eshoo introduced the SHLB letter into the record of the Committee mark-up of the bill, leading House Commerce to grant SHLB's request in the report language. SHLB also held numerous webinars throughout the year on these issues. The webinars were free and open to the public.

---

---

Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202041359349300539_public.xml