E2SHB 1701 -
By Senators Kohl-Welles, Kastama, Zarelli
ADOPTED 04/16/2009
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 (1) The legislature finds that the
deployment and adoption of high-speed internet services and technology
advancements enhance economic development and public safety for the
state's communities. Such deployment also offers improved health care,
access to consumer and legal services, increased educational and civic
participation opportunities, and a better quality of life for the
state's residents. The legislature further finds that improvements in
the deployment and adoption of high-speed internet services and the
strategic inclusion of technology advancements and technology education
are critical to ensuring that Washington remains competitive and
continues to provide a skilled workforce, attract businesses, and
stimulate job growth.
(2) The legislature intends to support strategic partnerships of
public, private, nonprofit, and community-based sectors in the
continued growth and development of high-speed internet services and
information technology. The legislature further intends to ensure that
all Washington citizens, businesses, schools, and organizations are
able to obtain and utilize broadband fully, regardless of location,
economic status, literacy level, age, disability, structure, or size.
In addition, the legislature intends that a statewide assessment of the
availability, location, service levels, and other characteristics of
high-speed internet services and other advanced telecommunications
services in the state be conducted.
(3) In recognition of the importance of broadband deployment and
adoption to the economy, health, safety, and welfare of the people of
Washington, it is the purpose of this act to make high-speed internet
service more readily available throughout the state, especially in
areas and for populations with a low utilization rate.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 (1) The broadband mapping account is
established in the custody of the state treasurer. The department
shall deposit into the account such funds received from legislative
appropriation, federal grants authorized under the federal broadband
data improvement act, P.L. 110-385, Title I, and donated funds from
private and public sources. Expenditures from the account may be used
only for the purposes of sections 3 through 5 of this act. Only the
director of the department or the director's designee may authorize
expenditures from the account. The account is subject to the allotment
procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not
required for expenditures.
(2) The department of information services is the single eligible
entity in the state for purposes of the federal broadband data
improvement act, P.L. 110-385, Title I.
(3) Funding received by the department under the federal broadband
data improvement act, P.L. 110-385, Title I, must be used in accordance
with the requirements of that act and, subject to those requirements,
may be distributed by the department on a competitive basis to other
entities in the state to achieve the purposes of that act.
(4) The department of information services shall consult with the
department of community, trade, and economic development or its
successor agency, the office of financial management, and the utilities
and transportation commission in coordinating broadband mapping
activities. In carrying out any broadband mapping activities, the
provisions of P.L. 110-385, Title I, regarding trade secrets,
commercial or financial information, and privileged or confidential
information submitted by the federal communications commission or a
broadband provider are deemed to encompass the consulted agencies.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 (1) Subject to the availability of federal
or state funding, the department may:
(a) Develop an interactive web site to allow residents to self-report whether high-speed internet is available at their home or
residence and at what speed; and
(b) Conduct a detailed survey of all high-speed internet
infrastructure owned or leased by state agencies and creating a
geographic information system map of all high-speed internet
infrastructure owned or leased by the state.
(2) State agencies responding to a survey request from the
department under subsection (1)(b) of this section shall respond in a
reasonable and timely manner, not to exceed one hundred twenty days.
The department shall request of state agencies, at a minimum:
(a) The total bandwidth of high-speed internet infrastructure owned
or leased;
(b) The cost of maintaining that high-speed internet
infrastructure, if owned, or the price paid for the high-speed internet
infrastructure, if leased; and
(c) The leasing entity, if applicable.
(3) The department may adopt rules as necessary to carry out the
provisions of this section.
(4) For purposes of this section, "state agency" includes every
state office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other
state agency.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 (1) The department is authorized, through a
competitive bidding process, to procure on behalf of the state a
geographic information system map detailing high-speed internet
infrastructure, service availability, and adoption. This geographic
information system map may include adoption information, availability
information, type of high-speed internet deployment technology, and
available speed tiers for high-speed internet based on any publicly
available data.
(2) The department may procure this map either by:
(a) Contracting for and purchasing a completed map from a third
party; or
(b) Working directly with the federal communications commission to
accept publicly available data.
(3) The department shall establish an accountability and oversight
structure to ensure that there is transparency in the bidding and
contracting process and full financial and technical accountability for
any information or actions taken by a third-party contractor creating
this map.
(4) In contracting for purchase of the map in subsection (2)(a) of
this section, the department may take no action, nor impose any
condition on the third party, that causes any record submitted by a
public or private broadband service provider to the third party to meet
the standard of a public record as defined in RCW 42.56.010. This
prohibition does not apply to any records delivered to the department
by the third party as a component of the completed map. For the
purpose of RCW 42.56.010(2), the purchase by the department of a
completed map may not be deemed use or ownership by the department of
the underlying information used by the third party to complete the map.
(5) Data or information that is publicly available as of the
effective date of this section will not cease to be publicly available
due to any provision of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 (1) The department, in coordination with the
department of community, trade, and economic development and the
utilities and transportation commission, and such advisors as the
department chooses, may prepare regular reports that identify the
following:
(a) The geographic areas of greatest priority for the deployment of
advanced telecommunications infrastructure in the state;
(b) A detailed explanation of how any amount of funding received
from the federal government for the purposes of broadband mapping,
deployment, and adoption will be or have been used; and
(c) A determination of how nonfederal sources may be utilized to
achieve the purposes of broadband mapping, deployment, and adoption
activities in the state.
(2) To the greatest extent possible, the initial report should be
based upon the information identified in the geographic system maps
developed under the requirements of this chapter.
(3) The initial report should be delivered to the appropriate
committees of the legislature as soon as feasible, but no later than
January 18, 2010.
(4) Future reports based upon the requirements of subsection (1) of
this section should be delivered to the appropriate committees of the
legislature by January 15th of each year.
Sec. 6 RCW 28B.32.010 and 2008 c 262 s 6 are each amended to read
as follows:
The community technology opportunity program is created to support
the efforts of community technology programs throughout the state. The
community technology opportunity program must be administered by the
((Washington State University extension, in consultation with the))
department of information services. The ((Washington State University
extension)) department may contract for services in order to carry out
the ((extension's)) department's obligations under this section.
(1) In implementing the community technology opportunity program
the administrator must, to the extent funds are appropriated for this
purpose:
(a) Provide organizational and capacity building support to
community technology programs throughout the state, and identify and
facilitate the availability of other public and private sources of
funds to enhance the purposes of the program and the work of community
technology programs. No more than fifteen percent of funds received by
the administrator for the program may be expended on these functions;
(b) Establish a competitive grant program and provide grants to
community technology programs to provide training and skill-building
opportunities; access to hardware and software; internet connectivity;
digital media literacy; assistance in the adoption of information and
communication technologies in low-income and underserved areas of the
state; and development of locally relevant content and delivery of
vital services through technology.
(2) Grant applicants must:
(a) Provide evidence that the applicant is a nonprofit entity or a
public entity that is working in partnership with a nonprofit entity;
(b) Define the geographic area or population to be served;
(c) Include in the application the results of a needs assessment
addressing, in the geographic area or among the population to be
served: The impact of inadequacies in technology access or knowledge,
barriers faced, and services needed;
(d) Explain in detail the strategy for addressing the needs
identified and an implementation plan including objectives, tasks, and
benchmarks for the applicant and the role that other organizations will
play in assisting the applicant's efforts;
(e) Provide evidence of matching funds and resources, which are
equivalent to at least one-quarter of the grant amount committed to the
applicant's strategy;
(f) Provide evidence that funds applied for, if received, will be
used to provide effective delivery of community technology services in
alignment with the goals of this program and to increase the
applicant's level of effort beyond the current level; and
(g) Comply with such other requirements as the administrator
establishes.
(3) The administrator may use no more than ten percent of funds
received for the community technology opportunity program to cover
administrative expenses.
(4) The administrator must establish expected program outcomes for
each grant recipient and must require grant recipients to provide an
annual accounting of program outcomes.
Sec. 7 RCW 43.105.020 and 2003 c 18 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
((As used in this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise,
the following definitions shall apply:)) The definitions in this
section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly
required otherwise.
(1) "Department" means the department of information services;
(2) "Board" means the information services board;
(3) "Committee" means the state interoperability executive
committee;
(4) "Local governments" includes all municipal and quasi municipal
corporations and political subdivisions, and all agencies of such
corporations and subdivisions authorized to contract separately;
(5) "Director" means the director of the department;
(6) "Purchased services" means services provided by a vendor to
accomplish routine, continuing, and necessary functions. This term
includes, but is not limited to, services acquired for equipment
maintenance and repair, operation of a physical plant, security,
computer hardware and software installation and maintenance,
telecommunications installation and maintenance, data entry, keypunch
services, programming services, and computer time-sharing;
(7) "Backbone network" means the shared high-density portions of
the state's telecommunications transmission facilities. It includes
specially conditioned high-speed communications carrier lines,
multiplexors, switches associated with such communications lines, and
any equipment and software components necessary for management and
control of the backbone network;
(8) "Telecommunications" means the transmission of information by
wire, radio, optical cable, electromagnetic, or other means;
(9) "Information" includes, but is not limited to, data, text,
voice, and video;
(10) "Information processing" means the electronic capture,
collection, storage, manipulation, transmission, retrieval, and
presentation of information in the form of data, text, voice, or image
and includes telecommunications and office automation functions;
(11) "Information services" means data processing,
telecommunications, office automation, and computerized information
systems;
(12) "Equipment" means the machines, devices, and transmission
facilities used in information processing, such as computers, word
processors, terminals, telephones, wireless communications system
facilities, cables, and any physical facility necessary for the
operation of such equipment;
(13) "Information technology portfolio" or "portfolio" means a
strategic management process documenting relationships between agency
missions and information technology and telecommunications investments;
(14) "Oversight" means a process of comprehensive risk analysis and
management designed to ensure optimum use of information technology
resources and telecommunications;
(15) "Proprietary software" means that software offered for sale or
license;
(16) "Video telecommunications" means the electronic
interconnection of two or more sites for the purpose of transmitting
and/or receiving visual and associated audio information. Video
telecommunications shall not include existing public television
broadcast stations as currently designated by the department of
community, trade, and economic development under chapter 43.330 RCW;
(17) "K-20 educational network board" or "K-20 board" means the K-20 educational network board created in RCW 43.105.800;
(18) "K-20 network technical steering committee" or "committee"
means the K-20 network technical steering committee created in RCW
43.105.810;
(19) "K-20 network" means the network established in RCW
43.105.820;
(20) "Educational sectors" means those institutions of higher
education, school districts, and educational service districts that use
the network for distance education, data transmission, and other uses
permitted by the K-20 board;
(21) "Administrator" means the community technology opportunity
program administrator designated by the department;
(22) "Community technology programs" means programs that are
engaged in diffusing information and communications technology in local
communities, particularly in unserved and underserved areas of the
state. These programs may include, but are not limited to, programs
that provide education and skill-building opportunities, hardware and
software, internet connectivity, digital media literacy, development of
locally relevant content, and delivery of vital services through
technology;
(23) "Broadband" means a high-speed, high capacity transmission
medium, using land-based, satellite, wireless, or any other mechanism,
that can carry either signals or transmit data, or both, over long
distances by using a wide range of frequencies;
(24) "Council" means the advisory council on digital inclusion
created in section 10 of this act;
(25) "High-speed internet" means broadband.
Sec. 8 RCW 28B.32.030 and 2008 c 262 s 8 are each amended to read
as follows:
The Washington community technology opportunity account is
established in the state treasury. The governor or the governor's
designee and the director or the director's designee shall deposit into
the account federal grants to the state authorized under Division B,
Title VI of the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009,
legislative appropriations, and donated funds from private and public
sources for purposes related to broadband deployment and adoption,
including matching funds required by the act. Donated funds from
private and public sources may be deposited into the account.
Expenditures from the account may be used only ((for)) as matching
funds for federal and other grants to fund the operation of the
community technology opportunity program ((as provided in RCW
28B.32.010)) under this chapter and to fund other activities authorized
in this act. Only the ((administrator)) director or the
((administrator's)) director's designee may authorize expenditures from
the account.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9 (1) The governor may take all appropriate
steps to carry out the purposes of Division B, Title VI of the American
recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, P.L. 111-5, and maximize
investment in broadband deployment and adoption in the state of
Washington consistent with this act. Such steps may include the
designation of a broadband deployment and adoption coordinator; review
and prioritization of grant applications by public and private entities
as directed by the national telecommunications and information
administration, the rural utility services, and the federal
communications commission; disbursement of block grant funding; and
direction to state agencies to provide staffing as necessary to carry
out this section. The authority for overseeing broadband adoption and
deployment efforts on behalf of the state is vested in the department.
(2) The department may apply for federal funds and other grants or
donations, may deposit such funds in the Washington community
technology opportunity account created in RCW 28B.32.030 (as recodified
by this act), may oversee implementation of federally funded or
mandated broadband programs for the state and may adopt rules to
administer the programs. These programs may include but are not
limited to the following:
(a) Engaging in periodic statewide surveys of residents,
businesses, and nonprofit organizations concerning their use and
adoption of high-speed internet, computer, and related information
technology for the purpose of identifying barriers to adoption;
(b) Working with communities to identify barriers to the adoption
of broadband service and related information technology services by
individuals, nonprofit organizations, and businesses;
(c) Identifying broadband demand opportunities in communities by
working cooperatively with local organizations, government agencies,
and businesses;
(d) Creating, implementing, and administering programs to improve
computer ownership, technology literacy, digital media literacy, and
high-speed internet access for populations not currently served or
underserved in the state. This may include programs to provide low-
income families, community-based nonprofit organizations, nonprofit
entities, and public entities that work in partnership with nonprofit
entities to provide increased access to computers and broadband, with
reduced cost internet access;
(e) Administering the community technology opportunity program
under chapter 28B.32 RCW (as recodified by this act);
(f) Creating additional programs to spur the development of high-speed internet resources in the state;
(g) Establishing technology literacy and digital inclusion programs
and establishing low-cost hardware, software, and internet purchasing
programs that may include allowing participation by community
technology programs in state purchasing programs; and
(h) Developing technology loan programs targeting small businesses
or businesses located in unserved and underserved areas.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10 (1) Subject to the availability of federal
or state funding, the department may reconvene the high-speed internet
work group previously established by chapter 262, Laws of 2008. The
work group is renamed the advisory council on digital inclusion, and is
an advisory group to the department. The council must include, but is
not limited to, volunteer representatives from community technology
organizations, telecommunications providers, higher education
institutions, K-12 education institutions, public health institutions,
public housing entities, and local government and other governmental
entities that are engaged in community technology activities.
(2) The council shall prepare a report by January 15th of each year
and submit it to the department, the governor, and the appropriate
committees of the legislature. The report must contain:
(a) An analysis of how support from public and private sector
partnerships, the philanthropic community, and other not-for-profit
organizations in the community, along with strong relationships with
the state board for community and technical colleges, the higher
education coordinating board, and higher education institutions, could
establish a variety of high-speed internet access alternatives for
citizens;
(b) Proposed strategies for continued broadband deployment and
adoption efforts, as well as further development of advanced
telecommunications applications;
(c) Recommendations on methods for maximizing the state's research
and development capacity at universities and in the private sector for
developing advanced telecommunications applications and services, and
recommendations on incentives to stimulate the demand for and
development of these applications and services;
(d) An identification of barriers that hinder the advancement of
technology entrepreneurship in the state; and
(e) An evaluation of programs designed to advance digital literacy
and computer access that are made available by the federal government,
local agencies, telecommunications providers, and business and
charitable entities.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11 If any part of this act is found to be in
conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to
the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of
this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with
respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not
affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to
the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal
requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal
funds by the state.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12 Sections 2 through 5, 9, and 10 of this act
are each added to chapter
NEW SECTION. Sec. 13 RCW 28B.32.010, 28B.32.030, 28B.32.900, and
28B.32.901 are each recodified as sections in chapter 43.105 RCW.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 14 The following acts or parts of acts are
each repealed:
(1) RCW 28B.32.020 (Definitions) and 2008 c 262 s 7; and
(2) RCW 43.105.350 (Request for information from providers--Limitation) and 2008 c 262 s 3.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 15 If any provision of this act or its
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other
persons or circumstances is not affected.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 16 This act is necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the
state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect
July 1, 2009.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 17 If specific funding for the purposes of
this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not
provided by June 30, 2009, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act
is null and void."
E2SHB 1701 -
By Senators Kohl-Welles, Kastama, Zarelli
ADOPTED 04/16/2009
On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "activities;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 28B.32.010, 43.105.020, and 28B.32.030; adding new sections to chapter 43.105 RCW; creating new sections; recodifying RCW 28B.32.010, 28B.32.030, 28B.32.900, and 28B.32.901; repealing RCW 28B.32.020 and 43.105.350; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency."
EFFECT: Removes the provisions for a Business & Occupation tax credit for firms that contribute to the Washington Community Technology Opportunity Account (WCTOA). Removes the provisions for deposit into the WCTOA of leasehold excise taxes paid by telecommunications firms. Makes technical corrections to references to federal laws and to clarify that the Broadband Mapping Account is created in the custody of the State Treasurer rather than in the state treasury. Adds a null and void clause.