93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB4898

 

Introduced 02/04/04, by Kevin Joyce

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
30 ILCS 780/5-3

    Amends the Eliminate the Digital Divide Law. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning legislative findings.


LRB093 19536 SJM 45276 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4898 LRB093 19536 SJM 45276 b

1     AN ACT concerning technology.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Eliminate the Digital Divide Law is amended
5 by changing Section 5-3 as follows:
 
6     (30 ILCS 780/5-3)
7     Sec. 5-3. Statement of legislative findings and purposes.
8 The General Assembly finds that the growth of high technology
9 industry, including computers, the Internet, and advanced
10 telecommunications, has created a division in society. Those
11 persons who are able to master the tools of the new digital
12 technology and have access to the technology have benefited in
13 the form of improved employment possibilities and a higher
14 standard of life. Those who are unfamiliar with the new
15 technologies, or do not have access to them, are increasingly
16 constrained to marginal employment and a standard of living
17 near the poverty level. This "digital divide" parallels
18 existing economic, racial, and gender divisions in society,
19 with the more privileged members of society having much greater
20 opportunity to benefit from the new technologies than those who
21 are less favorably situated. It is the purpose of this Law to
22 establish educational and economic development initiatives
23 that will bridge the digital divide, making possible a society
24 in which all individuals can benefit from the opportunities
25 provided by the new technologies.
26 (Source: P.A. 91-704, eff. 7-1-00.)