READ FIRST TIME 03/03/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to authorizing the department of information services to engage in high-speed internet activities; 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.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

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 43.105 RCW.

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.