The House bill, which now moves to the U.S. Senate, includes $6 billion in funding to stimulate broadband deployment across the U.S. The U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in the Department of Commerce would administer a $2.8 billion grant program for broadband providers to roll out service to rural and other underserved areas.

In addition to the new NTIA program, the bill gives the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture $2.8 billion, to give as grants and loans to broadband providers.

The legislation also includes an $11 billion program in the U.S. Department of Energy to assist the deployment of an Internet-based smart energy grid, which could allow homeowners to track and adjust their electricity use on the Web. The smart grid program would, among other things, provide grants to electric utilities for smart-grid demonstrations projects.

The stimulus package also includes $20 billion for incentives for health care providers to adopt electronic health records; $20 billion for modernizing schools, including tech upgrades; and $400 million to replace the Social Security Administration's 30-year-old National Computer Center.

Representative Donna Edwards, a Maryland Democrat, praised the bill for focusing on broadband and on science and tech jobs. The bill could create as many as 4 million jobs, according to supporters.