94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HB2476

 

Introduced 02/17/05, by Rep. Constance A. Howard - Monique D. Davis - Lovana Jones

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Connect Illinois Act. Establishes the Illinois Broadband Development Authority to coordinate the spread of broadband telecommunications technology in Illinois in order to achieve competition, affordability, and universal broadband service and to secure the State's telecommunications and economic future. Repeals the Act and dissolves the Authority on January 1, 2010.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning telecommunications.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Connect Illinois Act.
 
6     Section 5. Legislative purpose. The General Assembly finds
7 that the future economic vitality of the State of Illinois
8 depends on participation in the growing global information
9 economy and, for this reason, a State authority coordinating
10 the spread of broadband telecommunications technology is in the
11 economic interest of the people of Illinois. The General
12 Assembly further finds that current State telecommunications
13 policy does not encourage the rapid and widespread deployment
14 of state-of-the-art broadband technology and that Illinois and
15 the United States as a whole have fallen drastically behind
16 other states and nations in the capacity, the availability, and
17 the affordability of broadband services. The purpose of this
18 Act is to accomplish the goals of competition, affordability,
19 and universal broadband service and to secure the State's
20 telecommunications and economic future.
 
21     Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
22     "Authority" means the Illinois Broadband Deployment
23 Authority established under this Act.
24     "Broadband" means any technology that provides
25 bidirectional communications transmissions at speeds of at
26 least one megabit per second (1 mbps).
27     "Broadband deployment" means the spread of any technology
28 that provides bidirectional communications transmissions at
29 speeds of at least 1 mbps.
30     "Telecommunications infrastructure" means all of the
31 physical components of the transmission of data and voice

 

 

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1 communication.
 
2     Section 15. Illinois Broadband Deployment Authority.
3     (a) The Illinois Broadband Deployment Authority is created
4 as a body politic and corporate. The Authority shall consist of
5 a 12-member board of directors as follows:
6         (1) The Lieutenant Governor, who shall serve as both
7     the chairman and a voting member of the board.
8         (2) The Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity,
9     or the Director's designee.
10         (3) The Executive Director of the Illinois Commerce
11     Commission, or the Executive Director's designee.
12         (4) The Secretary of Transportation, or the
13     Secretary's designee.
14         (5) The Executive Director of the Illinois Toll Highway
15     Authority, or the Executive Director's designee.
16         (6) The Director of the Illinois Finance Authority, or
17     the Director's designee.
18         (7) Two members appointed by the Governor.
19         (8) One member appointed by each of the following: the
20     Senate President, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker
21     of the House, and the House Minority Leader.
22     Appointments to the board shall be made with consideration
23 of the geographic, gender, and racial diversity of the State.
24 The board shall include members representing rural areas,
25 underserved urban areas, consumer interests, community
26 interests, and commercial interests, including competitive
27 local exchange carriers. Members of the board of directors
28 shall serve 2-year terms. The board of directors shall meet at
29 least quarterly. The board shall have the power to make and
30 amend bylaws for its operation.
31     All members shall serve without compensation but may be
32 reimbursed for actual expenses incurred by them in the
33 performance of the duties of the Authority.
34     (b) The board of directors may seek input from State
35 agencies not represented on the board, including, but not

 

 

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1 limited to, the State Board of Education and the Illinois
2 Century Network Policy Committee and the Department of Central
3 Management Services, if input from those agencies is needed by
4 the board to make decisions about the activities of the
5 Authority.
6     (c) The General Assembly shall appropriate to the Authority
7 the funding necessary to select only those employees necessary
8 for the activities of the Authority, to fund the daily
9 operations of the Authority, and to cover the travel expenses
10 of the Authority.
 
11     Section 20. Powers and duties. The Authority shall have all
12 of the following powers and duties:
13         (1) To seek and distribute private, State, and federal
14     funding, including grants, loans, or general
15     appropriations, for the purpose of broadband deployment.
16         (2) To continually assess and catalog the
17     telecommunications infrastructure of the State of Illinois
18     for the purpose of determining the present and future needs
19     of the State with respect to realizing the goals of
20     competition, affordability, universal service, and
21     securing the State's telecommunications and economic
22     future. This includes creating and maintaining a
23     comprehensive map of the telecommunications infrastructure
24     in the State. For this purpose, the Authority shall have
25     the power to collect data from facilities-based
26     telecommunications companies operating in the State. The
27     comprehensive map may be created by the Authority or
28     contracted to another entity by the Authority.
29         (3) To encourage and participate in the coordination of
30     private and public telecommunications development,
31     including local and State efforts to realize the goals of
32     competition, affordability, universal service, and
33     securing the State's telecommunications and economic
34     future.
35         (4) To work with the Department of Commerce and

 

 

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1     Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Commerce Commission,
2     the Department of Transportation, the Illinois Toll
3     Highway Authority, the Illinois Finance Authority, the
4     State Board of Education, and the Illinois Century Network
5     Policy Committee for the purpose of ensuring consistent and
6     efficient deployment of telecommunications services
7     throughout Illinois.
8         (5) To seed and fund local and regional broadband
9     initiatives throughout the State for the purpose of
10     supporting broadband demand by educating underserved
11     populations in applications using computers and broadband
12     connectivity.
13         (6) To work with and distribute funding to private and
14     public telecommunications projects in matters related to
15     the construction, acquisition, improvement, or expansion
16     of telecommunications infrastructure. This includes, but
17     is not limited to, acting as a liaison between broadband
18     deployment projects and any entity controlling rights of
19     way and other easements necessary for a given broadband
20     project.
21         (7) To give priority for financial and technical
22     support to competitive local exchange carriers in areas in
23     which a majority of market share is held by community
24     antenna television services and incumbent local exchange
25     carriers.
26         (8) To enter into joint ventures and partnerships and
27     to make contracts for the purposes set forth in this Act.
28         (9) To select employees to carry out the daily
29     operations of the Authority.
 
30     Section 25. Repeal; dissolution of Authority. This Act is
31 repealed and the Illinois Broadband Authority is dissolved on
32 January 1, 2010.