HB3650ham002 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Constance A. Howard

Filed: 4/11/2005

09400HB3650ham002 LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3650

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3650, AS AMENDED, by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Integrated Telecommunications Outreach, Outcomes, Planning, and Digital Literacy Act.

Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that the following needs are essential to statewide telecommunications technological infrastructure:

(1) The need for affordable telephone and Internet connections for all Illinoisans. The daily convenience and necessity of residents, businesses, community institutions, and enterprises calls for cooperation by all to facilitate a range of telephone and telecommunication services that enable all persons, enterprises, and institutions to connect with each other for the basic purposes of life, safety, health, and productive activity and for the purpose of getting Illinois online in convenient and affordable advanced communication and broadband as a linked, digitally literate set of regions that are competitive in our world today.

(2) The need for digital literacy and technological skills to use Internet tools and improve citizen productivity. The safety, health, and social cohesion of all individuals, families, and communities in Illinois, as well as the speed of expansion of voice, data, and visual communication services in many modes calls for multiyear cooperation for systematic outreach to all Illinois residents to understand their telephone and telecommunications options, availability, costs, guarantees, and qualities of service, including advertisement of choices and the availability of consumer protection, the development of means for systematic feedback about the quality of service and its impacts on many kinds of customers, and for the purpose of sustaining systematic means for user-friendly ways to continually advance digital literacy to use the increasingly complex electronic and telephone-linked tools that are new necessities of life both for average residents and for residents who may be without the stability and resources of daily access to full phone service.

(3) The need for assistance in providing personal information and content management tools for average residents. The volume of telephone and telecommunications-based personal and mass communication calls for designing telephone and telecommunications choices to enable all residents, enterprises, and institutions to manage and have privacy in communication through consumer service tools provided by many public, private, and community providers, as they communicate with each other for basic purposes of life, liberty, and happiness, such as statewide consumer and business application tools, which include using telephone and telecommunications tools for more advanced purposes of connecting with the Internet online services for public services, schools and learning, health care, cultural and community arts, employment, economic opportunity, commercial and consumer purchasing, and transportation and local access places in their community dialogs and planning.

(4) The need for cooperative local, regional, and Statewide planning for basic telecommunications and broadband extension to all Illinois citizens. The many kinds and levels of basic and advanced services and the integration of provision by converging modes of wireline, cable, wireless satellite, wireless towers, wireless locations, utility lines, and voice over Internet, and information kiosk web services, call for statewide cooperation in better data collection and sharing. This includes data about current and newly emerging availability, choices, and costs of basic and advanced telephone and telecommunications and evaluation of service quality and use and for transition to new baseline levels of broadband for daily use.

(5) The need for assistance to residents with special basic telecommunication and assistive technology needs. There are social needs for better information by many kinds of consumers who have limited telephone and telecommunications choices, including needs to understand special programs for basic life connections and assistive services, as well as opportunities to benefit from stable telecommunications addresses and special service designated for universal service connectivity and adaptive connections, regardless of visual, hearing, physical, or developmental condition.

(6) The need for better public access to telecommunications services. There are needs for all consumers to better understand how to use public access information services, including call-in and call-out services of 911, use of 411 personal services and electronic directory assistance, 311 local government information, and new 211 public and community human services.

(7) The need for better cooperation among local, county, regional, and Statewide telecommunications planning and outcomes tracking. There are needs for local, county, and statewide public officials and planning bodies to have better information on telephone and telecommunications capacity and usage and digital and technological skills in order to undertake multi-year plans and public infrastructure investments, to communicate the telecommunications readiness of particular facilities or areas, and reduce the costs to local taxpayers for basic infrastructure, as well as for emergency safety and core health connections services, which often require advanced telecommunications for life supporting uses and greatest savings in public and resident costs and efficiencies in network usage

(8) The need for lesser connected residents to maintain access and technological skills at home, at work, and in public settings in order for Illinois to compete in the world marketplace. There are needs for all Illinois residents, and especially residents with less than average resources or in lesser connected communities or with special needs, to gain and maintain technological and digital literacy skills to use basic and advanced telecommunications in homes, at work, in schools, libraries, community centers, and health care facilities, and in public agencies and in settings, including at public and commercial information kiosks or information ATM machines; including the need to systematically increase the telecommunications use capacity of the Illinois workforce to reduce unemployment and underemployment in Illinois, which continues at substantially higher levels than national averages and which lags in terms of hiring for professional, technical, and entry-level employment in the face of regional and worldwide trends and models of success.

(9) The need for cooperation among State agencies concerning telecommunications access and technological skills programs to increase stakeholder investments from public and private parties. There are needs for cooperation among many State agencies, including cooperation among the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Commerce Commission, and the many programs that have responsibility for outreach concerning skill building, public benefit access, literacy, communication, and library networks, and community quality of life planning and implementation.

(10) The need for a public-private coordinating committee to work with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and its Advisory Committee on Elimination of the Digital Divide to integrate outreach and multi-year sustainable approaches. Coordinating and cooperating parties need to include telecommunications providers, telecommunications-related technology product and service providers, community technology providers, consumer interest and economic development and health and safety organizations, community service and research programs of institutions of higher education and community service and technological skills programs of elementary and secondary education, public agencies and local and regional planning bodies in all regions of the State, and other State and federal agencies and offices to assist in enabling all interested parties in participating in outreach, outcomes, planning, and digital literacy activities, in identifying appropriate sources of revenues for specific programs, and in developing new sources of endowment or program matching funds, including through programs and partnerships to share information about the synergies and shared data and outcomes information on Digital Literacy and Technology Access programs for underserved areas and populations in the State.

Section 10. Telecommunications outreach cooperation. Subject to appropriation, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, as part of the Director's responsibility for regional planning, technology, industrial competitiveness, and workforce skills, for electronic product life cycle enterprises, and for communication with telecommunications carriers and others in relation to the Eliminate the Digital Divide Law, shall establish a telecommunications outreach program within the Division of Technology and Industrial Competitiveness, in consultation with the Illinois Commerce Commission. The telecommunications outreach program shall do all of the following:

(1) Convene a working group of all public agencies, telecommunications providers, and community and consumer enterprises or institutions that have substantial outreach programs concerning educating residents, especially low-income, less connected, and special needs residents, to catalog telecommunications outreach and marketing programs, audiences, communication processes, and potential means of cooperation.

(2) Undertake an expanded outreach and marketing process among telecommunications providers and others to secure contributions to the Eliminate the Digital Divide Trust Program, in order to highlight the locations of public access community technology centers and services, linked with all State departments and offices, and to encourage the acquisition and maintenance of basic and more advanced technological and digital literacy skills linked with Internet and other telecommunications in underserved communities.

(3) Establish and undertake a program of outreach to implement a Good Samaritan Computer program to solicit voluntary contributions to assist low-income individuals and families in purchasing, using, and maintaining computers and internet connects, coordinated with other outreach and solicitation programs for individual contributions.

(4) Establish among parties participating under this Section and other Sections established in this Act, a public-private coordinating committee with responsibility to help identify and secure multi-year investment or endowment funds and program funds, including through federal, national, and international programs, including through cooperative outreach programs and through matching, formal or informal partnerships or cooperation, including tracking outcomes and research data, through an annual review of achievements of programs of the Department and others, through opportunities for local access plans in all communities to participate, and other means to expand digital literacy and technology access through an Eliminate the Digital Divide Community Trust process or future structure as a local-State stakeholder community to assist in improving the quality of lives and strengthening the family and social networks of low income and other lesser connected residents and entities.

Section 15. Telephone and telecommunications service outcomes, data sharing, and planning. Subject to appropriation, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, in cooperation with the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Illinois Attorney General, shall establish a Telecommunications Service Outcomes, Data Sharing, and Local Planning program. The program shall:

(1) Convene a local-State-federal telecommunications cooperative data collection and sharing working group to make recommendations on State-federal cooperation, including basic and broadband telecommunications data from FCC form 477, to assist decision-makers, planners, and consumer protection parties at the State and local levels to gain better data to make decisions concerning all modes of telecommunications and information infrastructure, including homeland security standards.

(2) Establish and undertake a regional-local telecommunications planning process in cooperation with 7 to 10 regional telecommunications service planning areas in Illinois, regional planning councils and their member public officials, other parties within multi-county areas, nonprofit community development, technology and media networks, and telecommunications consumer groups in these regions, along the lines of using an RFP process to provide grants to community telecommunications planning facilitators.

(3) Establish and undertake special community telecommunication local access planning for sustainability process for community-based collaboratives or consortia, with grant funding available from Department programs, from public-private partnerships, or from the Eliminate the Digital Divide Program or a combination of sources, plan for programs that assist low income families to secure loans and access to special discount programs of electronic product companies, and plan for electronic product recovery and recycling programs and enterprises.

(4) Undertake demonstration telephone and telecommunications quality of service feedback assemblies in a number of local access places in areas of 5,000 up to 60,000 residents in each telecommunications service region, with an initial focus on low-income or otherwise lesser connected communities, with a purpose of bringing together a cross-section of consumers of all modes of telecommunications to provide systematic feedback on top priorities for telecommunications infrastructure or services to improve the quality of families and communities, and specific improvements in the quality, availability, costs, and information about each telecommunications provider or service. The assemblies shall be hosted by non-profit, educational, community, or public agencies or enterprises, or consortia of those entities, that are not substantial providers of telecommunications services and that shall work closely with regional planning councils and related community development and consumer services networks in the area.

Section 20. Technological literacy trust grants and outcome tracking initiative. Subject to appropriation, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall establish an Eliminate the Digital Divide Community Trust Program as a continuation and expansion of the Eliminate the Digital Divide grant program, in cooperation with other State agencies, community technology and community development networks, consumer representatives, education and higher education agencies and extension services, regional planning councils, local public agency officials, and public, nonprofit, and business institutions or enterprises that provide grants and other resources for telephone, telecommunications and related quality of life services, training, or infrastructure and in consultation with the advisory committee on elimination of the digital divide. The Trust Program may receive voluntary contributions directly from members of the public, including any entity, and from the voluntary contribution programs of telecommunications providers authorized under the Eliminate the Digital Divide Law.

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall do all of the following:

(1) Provide "Train the Trainer" grants, other professional development grants, and evaluation-linked grants to determine the outcomes and the impacts of digital literacy and technology access programs of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and other State agencies and significant regional or statewide programs to entities or consortia that are region-based, circuit-based, or statewide-based community technology centers or networks that participate in the broadly-based annual Telecommunications Conference on Economic Development and telehealth sponsored by the University of Illinois extension program and others.

(2) Provide "Community Innovation" grants of between $5,000 to $50,000 to nonprofit community-based organizations to demonstrate innovative means to host consumer and community feedback activities on the impact of telecommunication access and technological skills on quality of life, including assemblies in local access places, in low-income areas and other underserved populations and communities with special and assistive needs, and for purposes of developing community telecommunication plans, or community technology center or consortia sustainability plans, to extend access and skills, including in homes, work locations, community technology centers, and public settings, including information kiosks, and including through innovative job-producing and revenue-generating community enterprises, including in the expanding areas of processing, demanufacturing and distribution of used technologies, undertaking electronic product recycling activities, and the development and distribution of personal information and content management tools and information ATM cards in the community, either directly or through statewide or regional circuit consortia with substantial experience in assisting such organizations.

(3) In consultation with the Advisory Committee on Elimination of the Digital Divide, provide "Family and Social Network Strengthening" grants of an amount to be determined to innovative organizations or enterprises that have the capacity to provide and sustain personal information and content management tools and services, including assistive technologies, e-mail and e-personal applications at low-cost or no-cost to low-income and other underserved families, individuals, and small businesses to enable them to acquire skills and develop and strengthen links with ongoing consumer and small business services and Community Technology Centers and other important work and family support networks and with special focus on regionwide and statewide sustainable networks and services.

(4) Co-sponsor an annual statewide community technology center professional development conference and any regional professional development online resources and calendar activities recommended by the advisory committee on elimination of the digital divide.

(5) Convene a stakeholder conference on resources to eliminate the digital divide and assist in planning for statewide broadband extension, digital government, and Illinois connection initiatives to support participation by stakeholders in Eliminate the Digital Divide programs and centers.

(6) Administer the resources in the current Eliminate the Digital Divide grant program, with interest on funds in the program to be used by the program and with funds received by the program from contributions from residents and stakeholders in digital literacy, including from telecommunications formulaic or other contributions, not subject to reduction or use by the general treasury reduction or use by the general treasury and with authority to make grants of up to $75,000 for technological skills and telecommunication and technology access to Community Technology Centers and to "Train the Trainer" grants provided for in this Section and to enable Community Technology Centers to assist participants in understanding and using personal information and content management tools as part of regular training and access services and as a means to assist those Centers in developing on-going services to participants and sources of earned revenue.

(7) Prepare an annual report on Digital Literacy and Technology and Telecommunication Access and their impact on community and economic development in the State, including a summary of outcomes and annual comparisons of impacts of grants since the initial grants under the Eliminate the Digital Divide Law, by February 1 of each year.

(8) Propose a formal Eliminate the Digital Divide Community Trust structure or entity involving public-private-community partnership activity, in consultation with coordinating and cooperating parties involved with activities under this Act, that has the capacity to bring resources from State and local agencies, telecommunications providers, business and charitable entities, and cooperation among those parties, including opportunities to apply for federal and other public, business, or charitable grants, funds, or revenue sources and that may undertake activities on October 1, 2006 or January 1, 2007.

Section 900. The Eliminate the Digital Divide Law is amended by changing Section 5-30 as follows:

(30 ILCS 780/5-30)

Sec. 5-30. Community Technology Grant Program.

(a) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall administer the Community Technology Center Grant Program under which the Department shall make grants in accordance with this Article for planning, establishment, administration, and expansion of Community Technology Centers and for assisting public hospitals, libraries, and park districts in eliminating the digital divide. The purposes of the grants shall include, but not be limited to, volunteer recruitment and management, training and instruction, infrastructure, and related goods and services for Community Technology Centers and public hospitals, libraries, and park districts. The total amount of grants under this Section in fiscal year 2001 shall not exceed $2,000,000, except that this limit on grants shall not apply to grants funded by appropriations from the Digital Divide Elimination Fund. No Community Technology Center may receive a grant of more than $50,000 under this Section in a particular fiscal year.

(b) Public hospitals, libraries, park districts, and State educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other public and private nonprofit or for-profit agencies and organizations are eligible to receive grants under this Program, provided that a local educational agency or public or private educational agency or organization must, in order to be eligible to receive grants under this Program, provide computer access and educational services using information technology to the public at one or more of its educational buildings or facilities at least 12 hours each week. A group of eligible entities is also eligible to receive a grant if the group follows the procedures for group applications in 34 CFR 75.127-129 of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations.

To be eligible to apply for a grant, a Community Technology Center, public hospital, library, or park district must serve a community in which not less than 40% of the students are eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under the national school lunch program or in which not less than 30% of the students are eligible for a free lunch under the national school lunch program; however, if funding is insufficient to approve all grant applications for a particular fiscal year, the Department may impose a higher minimum percentage threshold for that fiscal year. Determinations of communities and determinations of the percentage of students in a community who are eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under the national school lunch program shall be in accordance with rules adopted by the Department.

Any entities that have received a Community Technology Center grant under the federal Community Technology Centers Program are also eligible to apply for grants under this Program.

The Department shall provide assistance to Community Technology Centers in making those determinations for purposes of applying for grants.

(c) Grant applications shall be submitted to the Department not later than March 15 for the next fiscal year.

(d) The Department shall adopt rules setting forth the required form and contents of grant applications.

(e) There is created the Digital Divide Elimination Advisory Committee. The advisory committee shall consist of 7 5 members appointed one each by the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker of the House, and the House Minority Leader, and 2 appointed by the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, one of whom shall be a representative of the telecommunications industry and one of whom shall represent community technology centers. The members of the advisory committee shall receive no compensation for their services as members of the advisory committee but may be reimbursed for their actual expenses incurred in serving on the advisory committee. The Digital Divide Elimination Advisory Committee shall advise the Department in establishing criteria and priorities for identifying recipients of grants under this Act. The advisory committee shall obtain advice from the technology industry regarding current technological standards. The advisory committee shall seek any available federal funding.

(f) There is created the Digital Divide Elimination Working Group. The Working Group shall consist of the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or his or her designee, the Director of Central Management Services, or his or her designee, and the Executive Director of the Illinois Commerce Commission, or his or her designee. The Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or his or her designee, shall serve as chair of the Working Group. The Working Group shall consult with the members of the Digital Divide Elimination Advisory Committee and may consult with various groups including, but not limited to, telecommunications providers, telecommunications-related technology products and service providers, community technology providers, community and consumer organizations, businesses and business organizations, literacy and technology access programs and agencies, and federal government agencies.

(g) Duties of the Digital Divide Elimination Working Group include all of the following:

(1) Undertaking a thorough review of grant, outreach, and information programs available through the federal government, local agencies, telecommunications providers, and business and charitable entities for the purpose of identifying appropriate sources of revenues for the Digital Divide Elimination Fund and attempting to update available grants on a regular basis.

(2) Researching and cataloging programs designed to advance digital literacy and computer access that are available through the federal government, local agencies, telecommunications providers, and business and charitable entities and attempting to update available programs on a regular basis.

(3) Presenting the information compiled from items (1) and (2) to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which shall serve as a single point of contact for applying for funding for the Digital Divide Elimination Fund and for distributing information to the public regarding all programs designed to advance digital literacy and computer access.

(Source: P.A. 91-704, eff. 7-1-00; 92-22, eff. 6-30-01.)".