SR0435 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0435 LRB097 14706 KXB 59681 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On July 2, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Land Grant College Act of 1862, sponsored by Vermont Congressman Justin Morrill; officially titled "An Act Donating Public Lands to the Several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts," the Morrill Act provided each state with 30,000 acres of federal land for each member in their Congressional delegation; the land was then sold by the states and the proceeds used to fund public colleges that focused on agriculture and the mechanical arts; sixty-nine colleges were funded by these land grants, including the University of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, In 1890, the Second Morrill Land Grant Act of 1890 provided for an annual federal appropriation for the states, including for use in agriculture and mechanic arts community extension services, laying the basis for today's University of Illinois Extension Service and subsequent community extension services, including Illinois county fairs and the Illinois State Fair in Springfield; and

WHEREAS, In 1901, Joliet Junior College was established as America's first public community college, as an experimental postgraduate high school program, the "brainchild" of J. Stanley Brown, Superintendent of Joliet Township High School and William Rainey Harper, President of the University of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, In 1917, the federal Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act of 1917 and subsequent federal legislation provided for annual federal funding for vocational and home economics programs, for vocational research, including through the Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984, and for many technology skill programs carried out in high schools and community colleges; and

WHEREAS, In 1936, the Rural Electrification Act provided for the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) rural development and the Rural Electrification Administration to take responsibility, through loans and grants to cooperatives and local providers, to bring electricity to rural America, and, in 1949, the Rural Electrification Administration took responsibility to extend telephone services to rural areas, and became linked in 1965 and 1972 with the Appalachian Regional Development and the Rural Development Acts, and became the Rural Utilities Service in 1994; and

WHEREAS, With the many research projects in Illinois which contributed to the development of the public Internet by 1995, the University of Illinois extension and other parties created pioneering online community development tools available in every county by 1998, and, beginning in 2000, worked with the USDA-supported Rural Partners, Illinois Rural Health Association, Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, the office of the Lt. Governor under several administrations, and provider and consumer organizations, to host annual Rural Telecommunication and Health Conferences, initially bringing together rural parties and then adding parties from metropolitan Chicago in strong networks linking Internet infrastructure, services, and policy; and

WHEREAS, In 1999 and 2000, the Illinois General Assembly adopted the Illinois Century Network law, linking schools, libraries, and other public institutions with Internet services, and the Eliminate the Digital Divide Law to provide digital literacy services through community technology centers in low income communities throughout the State; now, the Illinois Century Network serves 9000 schools, libraries, and community anchor institutions, and plays a role as a major "middle mile" fiber provider across the State; from 2002 to 2005, the statewide Illinois Community Technology Consortium project (funded with $1.3 million in community investment proceeds from Ameritech-SBC merger and matched by $2.7 million in federal, community foundation, State, and local grants and in-kind contributions), worked with institutions and circuit riders in all regions of Illinois, with assistance from UI Extension in evaluation, professional development, and network-building; and

WHEREAS, From these efforts, in 2004 the University of Illinois Urban and Regional Planning department created a policy report for Illinois Online, which became the basis for the creation of the Illinois Broadband Deployment Council in 2005, and with a newly appointed Broadband Deployment Council, launched in 2010; and

WHEREAS, In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly adopted the High Speed Internet Act which led to the creation of the Illinois public-private partnership for broadband data, infrastructure access, and extension of broadband adoption and use; and

WHEREAS, In 2007, the Federal Communications Commission began its Pilot Rural Health Care Program to link rural hospitals, clinics, and providers through high speed Internet, primarily fiber and fixed wireless, and the Illinois Rural Health Net was awarded $21 million for 3 years of activity, which began after the Illinois General Assembly, in January 2009, provided matching funds, along with funding electronic health record pilot programs in all regions of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, In 2008, the Rural Utilities Service, through the federal Farm Bill and the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, took on major responsibilities to bring high speed Internet, or broadband Internet, infrastructure, and services to rural areas, in cooperation with the United States Department of Commerce's National Telecommunication and Information Administration; and

WHEREAS, In 2009 and 2010, Illinois institutions, companies, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations received about $250 million in Federal USDA and Department of Commerce infrastructure and services multi-year awards, matched by broadband funds authorized by the Illinois General Assembly capital bill, and coordinated through a series of Regional Broadband Summits in Naperville, Chicago, Carbondale, and Champaign; and

WHEREAS, In 2011, Illinois budget constraints presented challenges to future financial support for some Internet extension programs, including Internet infrastructure and service programs after the completion of federal funding in 2013, and the need to provide for Illinois Eliminate the Digital Divide digital literacy programs; public-private cooperation has been pledged to develop multi-year structures and commitments for sustainability of these programs, including through networks developed and strengthened by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Illinois land grant institutions, State universities, community colleges, and community anchor institution networks in each of the 48 community college areas; and

WHEREAS, In fall 2011, the Federal Communications Commission launched the Universal Service Reform Program to integrate the provision of regular telephone service with Internet service in all states, with the greatest impact on rural areas that have opportunities to benefit from combined world-class telephone and Internet service through public-private cooperation; and

WHEREAS, Investments in Internet infrastructure and services programs have been demonstrated to bring a 10 times return-on-investment in economic activity, and to serve as crucial anchors for Illinois research, development, and job creation in technology firms supported by digital skills programs at all levels; and

WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service cites the need for Internet connectivity to increase from today's 65-70% statewide (with many communities with less than 50% connectivity) to 85-95% for the United States to remain competitive in the world, and development organizations cite the need for fiber and advanced fixed wireless facilities providing from 100 megabit to 1 gigabit and higher service in the next 5 years in order to retain and attract job-creating development; and

WHEREAS, On September 10-15, 2012, almost 90,000 participants will convene at Chicago's McCormick Place for the biannual International Manufacturing Technology Show, including 9,000 students and educators at the Student Summit (Chicago's largest trade show), and many public officials and technology students and educators, as well as equipment manufacturers from across the State will be attending; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we celebrate and commemorate, during 2012, the pioneering activities of Illinois institutions, companies, and agencies, particularly Land Grant-based research-teaching-extension universities, State universities, and community colleges to achieve Universal Internet Extension in Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we work with the University of Illinois, the Illinois Department of Economic Opportunity, and related parties for Illinois and local elected officials to participate in appropriate research and extension celebrations of the Morrill Land Grant Act Sesquicentennial events, including showcasing groundbreaking events for economic development, and events at county fairs and the Illinois State Fair; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we work with Illinois schools, libraries, and community institutions to instill understanding of the importance of Digital Age beginning-to-advanced technology skills at all levels, including spreading regular information about opportunities for students, families, and educators from all regions of Illinois to work, including in local presentations by public officials; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we work to develop Illinois Broadband Awareness Programs with Partnership for a Connected Illinois and Community Anchor Institution networks in each library district, municipality, and county, watershed and community college districts, with regional planning bodies, and with Internet extension and economic development teams to highlight the benefits of broadband Internet skills and connectivity to positively impact the lives of families, businesses, and communities in meeting the 7 National Needs for Broadband (Health, Economic Opportunity, Education, Energy & Environment, Government Performance, Civic Engagement, and Public Safety) developed in the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan of 2010; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we request the appropriate Illinois Senate and House committees to work with their respective higher education, education, telecommunications, economic development, and healthcare committees, and with the Governor and all Constitutional officers, to plan for such Morrill Act Sesquicentennial commemoration and celebration events in Illinois and elsewhere.