Full Text of SB0766 95th General Assembly
SB0766enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning State government.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| 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. Nonprofit organization defined. 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; (iii) is organized under, subject | 10 |
| to, and has all the powers and duties of a not-for-profit | 11 |
| corporation under the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of | 12 |
| 1986; (iv) has statewide representation; and (v) has a board of | 13 |
| directors that is not composed of a majority of individuals who | 14 |
| are also employed by, or otherwise associated with, any | 15 |
| federal, State, or local government or agency. | 16 |
| "Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic | 17 |
| Opportunity. | 18 |
| Section 15. Enlistment of a nonprofit organization. | 19 |
| (a) Notwithstanding any other statute, the Department of | 20 |
| Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall enlist a nonprofit | 21 |
| organization to implement a comprehensive, statewide high | 22 |
| speed Internet deployment strategy and demand creation | 23 |
| initiative with the purpose of: | 24 |
| (1) ensuring that all State residents and businesses |
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| have access to affordable and reliable high speed Internet | 2 |
| service; | 3 |
| (2) achieving improved technology literacy, increased | 4 |
| computer ownership, and home high speed Internet use among | 5 |
| State residents and businesses; | 6 |
| (3) establishing and empowering local technology | 7 |
| planning teams in each county to plan for improved | 8 |
| technology use across multiple community sectors; and | 9 |
| (4) establishing and sustaining an environment ripe | 10 |
| for high speed Internet access and technology investment | 11 |
| statewide. | 12 |
| (b) The nonprofit organization shall have an established | 13 |
| competency and proven record of working with public and private | 14 |
| sectors to accomplish wide-scale deployment and adoption of | 15 |
| broadband and information technology in Illinois. | 16 |
| (c) The Department shall adopt rules regarding the | 17 |
| enlistment of a nonprofit organization. | 18 |
| Section 20. Duties of the enlisted nonprofit organization. | 19 |
| (a) The high speed Internet deployment strategy and demand | 20 |
| creation initiative to be performed by the nonprofit | 21 |
| organization shall include, but not be limited to, the | 22 |
| following actions: | 23 |
| (1) Create a geographic statewide inventory of high | 24 |
| speed Internet service and other relevant broadband and | 25 |
| information technology services. The inventory shall: |
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| (A) identify geographic gaps in high speed | 2 |
| Internet service through a method of GIS mapping of | 3 |
| service availability and GIS analysis at the census | 4 |
| block level; and | 5 |
| (B) provide a baseline assessment of statewide | 6 |
| high speed Internet deployment in terms of percentage | 7 |
| of Illinois households with high speed Internet | 8 |
| availability. | 9 |
| (2) Track and identify, through customer interviews | 10 |
| and surveys and other publicly available sources, | 11 |
| statewide residential and business adoption of high speed | 12 |
| Internet, computers, and related information technology | 13 |
| and any barriers to adoption. | 14 |
| (3) Build and facilitate in each county or designated | 15 |
| region a local technology planning team with members | 16 |
| representing a cross section of the community, including, | 17 |
| but not limited to, representatives of business, K-12 | 18 |
| education, health care, libraries, higher education, | 19 |
| community-based organizations, local government, tourism, | 20 |
| parks and recreation, and agriculture. Each team shall | 21 |
| benchmark technology use across relevant community | 22 |
| sectors, set goals for improved technology use within each | 23 |
| sector, and develop a plan for achieving its goals, with | 24 |
| specific recommendations for online application | 25 |
| development and demand creation. | 26 |
| (4) Collaborate with high speed Internet providers and |
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| technology companies to encourage deployment and use, | 2 |
| especially in underserved areas, by aggregating local | 3 |
| demand, mapping analysis, and creating market intelligence | 4 |
| to improve the business case for providers to deploy. | 5 |
| (5) Collaborate with the Department in developing a | 6 |
| program to increase computer ownership and broadband | 7 |
| access for disenfranchised populations across the State. | 8 |
| The program may include grants to local community | 9 |
| technology centers that provide technology training, | 10 |
| promote computer ownership, and increase broadband access. | 11 |
| (b) The nonprofit organization may apply for federal grants | 12 |
| consistent with the objectives of this Act. | 13 |
| (c) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity | 14 |
| shall use the funds in the High Speed Internet Services and | 15 |
| Information Technology Fund to (1) provide grants to the | 16 |
| nonprofit organization enlisted under this Act and (2) for any | 17 |
| costs incurred by the Department to administer this Act. | 18 |
| (d) The nonprofit organization shall have the power to | 19 |
| obtain or to raise funds other than the grants received from | 20 |
| the Department under this Act. | 21 |
| (e) The nonprofit organization and its Board of Directors | 22 |
| shall exist separately and independently from the Department | 23 |
| and any other governmental entity, but shall cooperate with | 24 |
| other public or private entities it deems appropriate in | 25 |
| carrying out its duties. | 26 |
| (f) Notwithstanding anything in this Act or any other Act |
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| to the contrary, any information that is designated | 2 |
| confidential or proprietary by an entity providing the | 3 |
| information to the nonprofit organization or any other entity | 4 |
| to accomplish the objectives of this Act shall be deemed | 5 |
| confidential, proprietary, and a trade secret and treated by | 6 |
| the nonprofit organization or anyone else possessing the | 7 |
| information as such and shall not be disclosed. | 8 |
| (g) The nonprofit organization shall provide a report to | 9 |
| the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on | 10 |
| an annual basis for the first 3 complete State fiscal years | 11 |
| following its enlistment. | 12 |
| Section 25. Scope of authority. Nothing in this Act shall | 13 |
| be construed as giving the Department of Commerce and Economic | 14 |
| Opportunity, the nonprofit organization, or other entities any | 15 |
| additional authority, regulatory or otherwise, over providers | 16 |
| of telecommunications, broadband, and information technology.
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| Section 30. High Speed Internet Services and Information | 18 |
| Technology Fund. | 19 |
| (a) There is created in the State treasury a special fund | 20 |
| to be known as the High Speed Internet Services and Information | 21 |
| Technology Fund, to be used, subject to appropriation, by the | 22 |
| Department of Commerce and Economic Development for purposes of | 23 |
| providing grants to the nonprofit organization enlisted under | 24 |
| this Act. |
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| (b) On the effective date of this Act, $4,000,000 in the | 2 |
| Digital Divide Elimination Infrastructure Fund shall be | 3 |
| transferred to the High Speed Internet Services and Information | 4 |
| Technology Fund. Nothing contained in this subsection (b) shall | 5 |
| affect the validity of grants issued with moneys from the | 6 |
| Digital Divide Elimination Infrastructure Fund before June 30, | 7 |
| 2007. | 8 |
| Section 35. Local broadband projects. Any municipality or | 9 |
| county may undertake local broadband projects and the provision | 10 |
| of services in connection therewith; may lease infrastructure | 11 |
| that it owns or controls; may aggregate customers or demand for | 12 |
| broadband services; may apply for and receive funds or | 13 |
| technical assistance to undertake such projects to address the | 14 |
| level of broadband access available to its businesses and | 15 |
| residents. To the extent that it seeks to serve as a retail | 16 |
| provider of telecommunications services, the municipality or | 17 |
| county shall be required to obtain appropriate certification | 18 |
| from the Illinois Commerce Commission as a telecommunications | 19 |
| carrier. | 20 |
| Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | 21 |
| Section 5.675 as follows: | 22 |
| (30 ILCS 105/5.675 new) | 23 |
| Sec. 5.675. The High Speed Internet Services and |
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| Information Technology Fund.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 3 |
| becoming law.
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