BILL REQ. #:  H-4662.2 

READ FIRST TIME 01/23/08.   

     AN ACT Relating to the mapping of internet and computer resources in the state for purposes of future economic development; amending RCW 43.105.020; adding new sections to chapter 43.105 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds and declares the following:
     (1) Access to computers and the internet is becoming increasingly important for full participation in our country's economic, political, and social life;
     (2) Affordable, high-speed internet access is a key competitive factor for economic development and quality of life in Washington state and in our increasingly global economy;
     (3) Universal connectivity at affordable prices is a necessity for business transactions, education and training, health care, information exchange, government services, communication, artistic expression, and the democratic process;
     (4) Unequal access to computer technology and internet connectivity by income, disabilities, education level, ethnic or racial group, or geographic location could deepen and reinforce the divisions that already exist in our society; and
     (5) Other states are surveying their access to computer and internet resources in order to better compete in the digital future.
     Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to survey the availability of public broadband resources in the state and determine what steps may be taken to bridge the digital divide, increase access to broadband services for all citizens in Washington state, and prepare for a more competitive and digitally connected future.

Sec. 2   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 requires 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) "Broadband" means the transmission of information, between or among points specified by the user, with or without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received, at minimum rates of transmission of one megabits per second downstream and five hundred twelve kilobits per second upstream, or at those synchronous upstream and downstream transmission rates as may be recommended by the department by rule, or as defined by the federal communications commission.
     (22) "Commission" means the Washington utilities and transportation commission.
     (23) "Community action agency" means local community action agencies or local community service agencies designated by the department of community, trade, and economic development under chapter 43.63A RCW.
     (24) "Community technology program," also known as a digital inclusion program, means a program engaged in diffusing information and communications technology in local communities, particularly in underserved areas. These programs may include, but are not limited to, programs that provide education and skill-building opportunities, hardware and software, internet connectivity, and development of locally relevant content and delivery of vital services through technology.
     (25) "Telecommunications infrastructure" includes conduits, ducts, poles, wires, fiberoptic cable or lines, coaxial cable, copper twisted pair telephone lines, receivers, transmitters, broadcast radio frequency bandwidth, lasers and multiplexers, instruments, machines, appliances and all devices, real estate, easements, apparatus, property, and routes used or operated by the state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.105 RCW to read as follows:

     (1) Except as provided in subsection (8) of this section, the department, in consultation with the commission, must conduct a detailed survey of the telecommunications infrastructure owned by the state. The survey must be used to create a map of all broadband resources owned by the state.
     (2) In conducting the survey, the department must report, in detail:
     (a) The physical location of all telecommunications infrastructure owned by the state; and
     (b) The amount of excess capacity available.
     (3) The survey must specifically set forth the areas for broadband services by census tract and by block, lot, or other uniquely identifiable administrative characteristic.
     (4) State agencies shall respond to any requests for information from the department in a reasonable and timely manner.
     (5) The department, in consultation with the commission, must identify the excess capacity and bandwidth owned by the state that could be leased on a nondiscriminatory and commercially reasonable basis by public entities, community technology programs, and community action agencies.
     (6) By December 1, 2008, the department shall provide a status update to the appropriate committees of the legislature, which shall include recommendations for moving forward towards full implementation of a state broadband initiative.
     (7) By December 1st of each year, the department must update this survey to track the expansion and progress of broadband access and submit a report to the legislature.
     (8) This section does not apply to telecommunications infrastructure owned, leased, or controlled by law enforcement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 43.105 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By December 1, 2008, the department, in consultation with the commission, must compile a database and web page listing all of the major, free wireless internet services that are available to the public in the state. The database and web page must describe the location for each wireless access point, and may include any log-in information, such as passwords, that may be required for gaining access. The database must be updated dynamically on at least a semiannual basis.
     (2) By December 1, 2008, the department, in consultation with the commission, shall identify and make publicly available a web directory of facilities providing community technology programs throughout the state. This directory must be updated at least annually.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   The code reviser is directed to put the defined terms in RCW 43.105.020 in alphabetical order.