SENATE BILL REPORT

ESHB 373

BYHouse Committee on Agriculture & Rural Development (originally sponsored by Representatives Grant, Jacobsen, Nealey, Rayburn, Brooks, Kremen, Holm, Sutherland and Rasmussen)

Directing the department of community development to conduct rural development studies.

House Committe on Agriculture & Rural Development

Rereferred House Committee on Ways & Means/Appropriations

Senate Committee on Agriculture

Senate Hearing Date(s):April 2, 1987

Majority Report:  Do pass.

      Signed by Senators Hansen, Chairman; Bauer, Vice Chairman; Anderson, Bailey, Barr, Gaspard.

Senate Staff:Tom McDonald (786-7404)

                  April 2, 1987

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, APRIL 2, 1987

BACKGROUND:

The Department of Community Development was created to financially and technically assist local communities and provide these communities with access to opportunities for productive and coordinated development.  The Utilities and Transportation Commission has authority over regulation of the utilities in the state, including certain telecommunications companies.

The opportunities for the revitalization and future economic development in rural communities will depend on the coordinated efforts of the Department of Community Development and the Utilities and Transportation Commission.  Industry, including the growing office-intensive and service sector, must be introduced in rural areas to revitalize the local communities; but, as studies have shown, this effort will succeed only with the availability of telecommunications and information based systems.  Telecommunication systems are major conduits of data transmission and have become increasingly critical to the survival and growth of office-intensive businesses.  The integration of efficient telecommunication systems into community development is necessary for revitalizing and diversifying the rural community.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Community Development (the Department) and the Utilities and Transportation Commission (the Commission) are directed to investigate the feasibility of introducing office intensive industry into agriculturally based rural communities.

The Department shall:  examine trends in office intensive industry and the extent to which it decentralizes its facilities; compare the cost of conducting work for these industries in the rural and nearby urban areas ; determine whether the rural community has a sufficient telecommunications infrastructure to accommodate potential facilities; and examine certain related issues.

The Commission shall conduct a study to determine the number of party and private lines in the rural community selected by the Department. The Commission shall determine the cost, feasibility, and desirability of converting to private lines.

The Department and the Commission shall jointly develop recommendations for a program to update rural communities about telecommunications and computer applications to certain enterprises.  The Department and the Commission shall submit the results of their studies to the Governor and the Joint Committee on Telecommunications by January 1, 1988.

The Commission is also directed to conduct a study and provide the Legislature with an annual report of the quality and extent of the state's telecommunication infrastructure.

Appropriation:    $42,000 is appropriated to the Department of Community Development.

Fiscal Note:      available

Senate Committee - Testified: Representative Bill Grant; Representative Ken Jacobsen; John Oaks; Steve McClellan, Utilities and Transportation Commission; Ray Shindler, Washington Association of Wheat Growers