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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The deployment and adoption of rural high-speed
3Internet services and information technology has resulted in
4enhanced economic development and public safety for the State's
5communities, improved health care and educational
6opportunities, and a better quality of life for the State's
7residents; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Continued progress in the deployment and adoption
9of rural high speed Internet services and information
10technology is vital in ensuring that the State of Illinois
11remains competitive and continues to create business and job
12growth; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
14HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE
15CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Rural Broadband Deployment Task
16Force is created; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That the Rural Broadband Deployment Task Force
18shall consist of the following members:
19        (1) one Senate member appointed by the Senate
20    President, who shall serve as co-chairperson;
21        (2) one Senate member appointed by the Senate Minority
22    Leader;

 

 

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1        (3) one House member appointed by the Speaker of the
2    House, who shall serve as co-chairperson;
3        (4) one House member appointed by the House Minority
4    Leader;
5        (5) the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity,
6    or his or her designee;
7        (6) the Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission,
8    or his or her designee;
9        (7) the Secretary of Transportation, or his or her
10    designee;
11        (8) the Chairman of the Illinois State Toll Highway
12    Authority, or his or her designee;
13        (9) the Chairman of the Illinois Finance Authority, or
14    his or her designee;
15        (10) the State Superintendent of Education, or his or
16    her designee;
17        (11) the Chairman of the Board of Higher Education, or
18    his or her designee
19        (12) the Director of Central Management Services, or
20    his or her designee; and
21        (13) the Director of Innovation & Technology, or his or
22    her designee; and be it further
 
23    RESOLVED, That appointments to the Rural Broadband
24Deployment Task Force shall be made with consideration of the
25diversity of the State, including members representing rural

 

 

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1areas, underserved rural areas, consumer interests, community
2interests, commercial interests including Incumbent and
3Competitive Local Exchange Carriers, and other entities
4providing communications or information services but not
5classified as Local Exchange Carriers; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That the Rural Broadband Deployment Task Force
7shall be charged with the following duties:
8        (1) identify those portions of the rural
9    telecommunications infrastructure owned by agencies of the
10    State of Illinois that can be made available for lease to
11    commercial ventures, non-profit agencies, and local
12    governments and to establish standard procedures and
13    pricing for lease of that infrastructure;
14        (2) study any rural infrastructure improvements that
15    are currently underway by the State of Illinois; this
16    includes the installation of an underground conduit that
17    can be made available on a non-discriminatory basis to
18    public, private, and non-profit entities interested in
19    running fiber-optic lines for communications or
20    information services through the conduit;
21        (3) study the current level of coordination between
22    rural private and public telecommunications deployment,
23    including, but not limited to, grant-making and financing
24    of various statewide, local, and regional efforts and
25    public-private partnerships;

 

 

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1        (4) study the available rural State, federal, and
2    private funding sources for private and public
3    telecommunications deployment;
4        (5) study rural telecommunications initiatives that
5    require legislative approval, including the creation of a
6    State entity that handles distribution of funds for private
7    and public telecommunications projects;
8        (7) study ways to foster competition among all rural
9    entities providing commercial communications or
10    information services; and
11        (8) assess and catalog the rural telecommunications
12    infrastructure of the State of Illinois for the purpose of
13    determining the present and future needs of the State with
14    respect to realizing the goals of competition,
15    affordability, universal service, and securing the State's
16    telecommunications and economic future; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That members of the Rural Broadband Deployment
18Task Force shall serve without compensation and the Illinois
19Department of Innovation & Technology shall provide
20administrative and other support to the Task Force; and be it
21further
 
22    RESOLVED, That the Rural Broadband Deployment Task Force
23shall submit its final report to General Assembly by December
2431, 2018; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That upon the filing of its final report, the
2Rural Broadband Deployment Task Force is dissolved.