Full Text of HB0754 95th General Assembly
HB0754eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning telecommunications.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the High | 5 |
| Speed Internet Services and Information Technology Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Findings. With respect to high speed Internet | 7 |
| services and information technology, the General Assembly | 8 |
| finds the following: | 9 |
| (1) The deployment and adoption of high speed Internet | 10 |
| services and information technology has resulted in | 11 |
| enhanced economic development and public safety for the | 12 |
| State's communities, improved health care and educational | 13 |
| opportunities, and a better quality of life for the State's | 14 |
| residents. | 15 |
| (2) Continued progress in the deployment and adoption | 16 |
| of high speed Internet services and information technology | 17 |
| is vital to ensuring that this State remains competitive | 18 |
| and continues to create business and job growth. | 19 |
| (3) The State must encourage and support the | 20 |
| partnership of the public and private sectors in the | 21 |
| continued growth of high speed Internet and information | 22 |
| technology for the State's residents and businesses. | 23 |
| (4) Local governmental entities play a role in
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| assessing the needs of their communities with respect to | 2 |
| high speed Internet services and information technology. | 3 |
| Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: | 4 |
| "Nonprofit organization" means an organization that (i) is | 5 |
| a nonprofit organization as described in Section 501(c)(3) of | 6 |
| the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax | 7 |
| under Section 501(a) of that Code; (ii) has no part of the net | 8 |
| earnings of which inures to the benefit of any member, founder, | 9 |
| contributor, or individual; and (iii) is organized under, | 10 |
| subject to, and has all the powers and duties of a | 11 |
| not-for-profit corporation under the General Not For Profit | 12 |
| Corporation Act of 1986. | 13 |
| Section 15. Connect IL. | 14 |
| (a) Notwithstanding any other statute, the Lieutenant | 15 |
| Governor, with the advice of the Broadband Deployment Council, | 16 |
| shall authorize the creation of a nonprofit corporation called | 17 |
| Connect IL to implement a comprehensive, statewide high speed | 18 |
| Internet deployment strategy and demand creation initiative | 19 |
| with the purpose of: | 20 |
| (1) ensuring that all State residents and businesses | 21 |
| have access to affordable and reliable high speed Internet | 22 |
| service; | 23 |
| (2) achieving improved technology literacy, increased | 24 |
| computer ownership, and home high speed Internet use among |
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| State residents and businesses; | 2 |
| (3) establishing and empowering local technology | 3 |
| planning teams in each county to plan for improved | 4 |
| technology use across multiple community sectors; and | 5 |
| (4) establishing and sustaining an environment ripe | 6 |
| for high speed Internet access and technology investment | 7 |
| statewide. | 8 |
| (b) Connect IL's governing board shall be appointed by the | 9 |
| Lieutenant Governor, with the advice of the Broadband | 10 |
| Deployment Council, and shall not exceed 11 members, with a | 11 |
| maximum of 6 representing the private sector and a maximum of 5 | 12 |
| representing the government and nonprofit sectors. Four of the | 13 |
| private sector members shall be from the largest incumbent | 14 |
| local exchange carriers, one shall be from the cable television | 15 |
| industry, and one shall be from the Internet Service Provider | 16 |
| (ISP) industry. Members representing the public sector shall | 17 |
| include one member from a public Illinois university, one | 18 |
| member that represents Community Technology Centers, one | 19 |
| member from the Department of Commerce and Economic | 20 |
| Opportunity, one member from the Lieutenant Governor's office, | 21 |
| and one member from the Department of Central Management | 22 |
| Services. The board shall select its chairperson to serve a | 23 |
| 2-year term. | 24 |
| (c) In lieu of, or in addition to creating a nonprofit, the | 25 |
| Lieutenant Governor, with the Broadband Deployment Council's | 26 |
| advice, shall enlist an existing nonprofit organization that |
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| has an established competency and proven record of working with | 2 |
| public and private sectors to accomplish wide-scale deployment | 3 |
| and adoption of broadband and information technology. | 4 |
| Section 20. Duties of Connect IL. | 5 |
| (a) The high speed Internet deployment strategy and demand | 6 |
| creation initiative to be performed by the nonprofit | 7 |
| organization shall include, but not be limited to, the | 8 |
| following actions: | 9 |
| (1) Create a geographic statewide inventory of high | 10 |
| speed Internet service and other relevant broadband and | 11 |
| information technology services. The inventory shall: | 12 |
| (A) identify geographic gaps in high speed | 13 |
| Internet service through a method of GIS mapping of | 14 |
| service availability and GIS analysis at the census | 15 |
| block level; and | 16 |
| (B) provide a baseline assessment of statewide | 17 |
| high speed Internet deployment in terms of percentage | 18 |
| of Illinois households with high speed Internet | 19 |
| availability. | 20 |
| (2) Track and identify, through customer interviews | 21 |
| and surveys and other publicly available sources, | 22 |
| statewide residential and business adoption of high speed | 23 |
| Internet, computers, and related information technology | 24 |
| and any barriers to adoption. | 25 |
| (3) Build and facilitate in each county or designated |
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| region a local technology planning team with members | 2 |
| representing a cross section of the community, including, | 3 |
| but not limited to, representatives of business, K-12 | 4 |
| education, health care, libraries, higher education, | 5 |
| community-based organizations, local government, tourism, | 6 |
| parks and recreation, and agriculture. Each team shall | 7 |
| benchmark technology use across relevant community | 8 |
| sectors, set goals for improved technology use within each | 9 |
| sector, and develop a plan for achieving its goals, with | 10 |
| specific recommendations for online application | 11 |
| development and demand creation. | 12 |
| (4) Collaborate with high speed Internet providers and | 13 |
| technology companies to encourage deployment and use, | 14 |
| especially in underserved areas, by aggregating local | 15 |
| demand, mapping analysis, and creating market intelligence | 16 |
| to improve the business case for providers to deploy. | 17 |
| (5) Establish a program to increase computer ownership | 18 |
| and Internet access for disenfranchised populations across | 19 |
| the State. | 20 |
| (b) The nonprofit organization may apply for federal grants | 21 |
| consistent with the objectives of this Act. | 22 |
| (c) The Lieutenant Governor shall use the funds in the High | 23 |
| Speed Internet Services and Information Technology Fund to | 24 |
| provide grants to the nonprofit organization created or | 25 |
| enlisted under this Act. | 26 |
| (d) The nonprofit organization shall have the power to |
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| obtain or to raise funds other than the grants receive from the | 2 |
| Lieutenant Governor under this Act. | 3 |
| (e) The nonprofit organization and its Board of Directors | 4 |
| shall exist separately and independently from the Office of the | 5 |
| Lieutenant Governor and any other governmental entity, but | 6 |
| shall cooperate with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, the | 7 |
| Broadband Deployment Council, and other public or private | 8 |
| entities it deems appropriate in carrying out its duties. | 9 |
| (f) Notwithstanding anything in this Act or any other Act | 10 |
| to the contrary, any information that is designated | 11 |
| confidential or proprietary by an entity providing the | 12 |
| information to the nonprofit organization or any other entity | 13 |
| to accomplish the objectives of this Act shall be deemed | 14 |
| confidential, proprietary, and a trade secret and treated by | 15 |
| the nonprofit organization, Connect IL's governing board, or | 16 |
| anyone else possessing the information as such and shall not be | 17 |
| disclosed. | 18 |
| Section 25. Scope of authority. Nothing in this Act shall | 19 |
| be construed as giving the Lieutenant Governor, the Broadband | 20 |
| Deployment Council, the nonprofit organization, or other | 21 |
| entities any additional authority, regulatory or otherwise, | 22 |
| over providers of telecommunications, broadband, and | 23 |
| information technology.
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| Section 30. High Speed Internet Services and Information |
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| Technology Fund. | 2 |
| (a) There is created in the State treasury a special fund | 3 |
| to be known as the High Speed Internet Services and Information | 4 |
| Technology Fund, to be used, subject to appropriation, by the | 5 |
| Lieutenant Governor for purposes of providing grants to the | 6 |
| nonprofit organization enlisted under this Act. | 7 |
| (b) On the effective date of this Act, all moneys in the | 8 |
| Digital Divide Elimination Infrastructure Fund which have not | 9 |
| already been distributed or ordered distributed by the Illinois | 10 |
| Commerce Commission shall be transferred to the High Speed | 11 |
| Internet Services and Information Technology Fund. Nothing | 12 |
| contained in this subsection (b) shall affect the validity of | 13 |
| grants issued under this Act before June 30, 2007. | 14 |
| Section 35. Local broadband projects. Any municipality or | 15 |
| county may undertake local broadband projects and the provision | 16 |
| of services in connection therewith; may lease infrastructure | 17 |
| that it owns or controls; may aggregate customers or demand for | 18 |
| broadband services; may apply for and receive funds or | 19 |
| technical assistance to undertake such projects to address the | 20 |
| level of broadband access available to its businesses and | 21 |
| residents. To the extent that it seeks to serve as a retail | 22 |
| provider of telecommunications services, the municipality or | 23 |
| county shall be required to obtain appropriate certification | 24 |
| from the Illinois Commerce Commission as a telecommunications | 25 |
| carrier. |
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| Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 2 |
| Section 5.675 as follows: | 3 |
| (30 ILCS 105/5.675 new) | 4 |
| Sec. 5.675. The High Speed Internet Services and | 5 |
| Information Technology Fund.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 7 |
| becoming law.
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