Full Text of HB3650 94th General Assembly
HB3650ham002 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
Rep. Constance A. Howard
Filed: 4/11/2005
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
|
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3650
| 2 |
| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3650, AS AMENDED, by | 3 |
| replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 |
| following:
| 5 |
| "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 6 |
| Integrated Telecommunications Outreach, Outcomes, Planning, | 7 |
| and Digital Literacy Act. | 8 |
| Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that the | 9 |
| following needs are essential to statewide telecommunications | 10 |
| technological infrastructure: | 11 |
| (1) The need for affordable telephone and Internet | 12 |
| connections for all Illinoisans. The daily convenience and | 13 |
| necessity of residents, businesses,
community institutions, | 14 |
| and enterprises calls for cooperation by all to facilitate a | 15 |
| range of telephone and telecommunication services that enable | 16 |
| all persons, enterprises, and institutions to connect with each | 17 |
| other for the basic purposes of life, safety, health, and | 18 |
| productive activity and for the purpose of getting Illinois | 19 |
| online in convenient and affordable advanced communication and | 20 |
| broadband as a linked, digitally literate set of regions that | 21 |
| are competitive in our world today. | 22 |
| (2) The need for digital literacy and technological skills | 23 |
| to use Internet tools and improve citizen productivity. The | 24 |
| safety, health, and social cohesion of all individuals, |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 2 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| families, and
communities in Illinois, as well as the speed of | 2 |
| expansion of voice, data, and visual communication services in | 3 |
| many modes calls for multiyear cooperation for systematic | 4 |
| outreach to all Illinois residents to understand their | 5 |
| telephone and telecommunications options, availability, costs, | 6 |
| guarantees, and qualities of service, including advertisement | 7 |
| of choices and the availability of consumer protection, the | 8 |
| development of means for systematic feedback about the quality | 9 |
| of service and its impacts on many kinds of customers, and for | 10 |
| the purpose of sustaining systematic means for user-friendly | 11 |
| ways to continually advance digital literacy to use the | 12 |
| increasingly complex electronic and telephone-linked tools | 13 |
| that are new necessities of life both for average residents and | 14 |
| for residents who may be without the stability and resources of | 15 |
| daily access to full phone service. | 16 |
| (3) The need for assistance in providing personal | 17 |
| information and content management tools for average | 18 |
| residents. The volume of telephone and | 19 |
| telecommunications-based personal and
mass communication calls | 20 |
| for designing telephone and telecommunications choices to | 21 |
| enable all residents, enterprises, and institutions to manage | 22 |
| and have privacy in communication through consumer service | 23 |
| tools provided by many public, private, and community | 24 |
| providers, as they communicate with each other for basic | 25 |
| purposes of life, liberty, and happiness, such as statewide | 26 |
| consumer and business application tools, which include using | 27 |
| telephone and telecommunications tools for more advanced | 28 |
| purposes of connecting with the Internet online services for | 29 |
| public services, schools and learning, health care, cultural | 30 |
| and community arts, employment, economic opportunity, | 31 |
| commercial and consumer purchasing, and transportation and | 32 |
| local access places in their community dialogs and planning. | 33 |
| (4) The need for cooperative local, regional, and Statewide | 34 |
| planning for basic telecommunications and broadband extension |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 3 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| to all Illinois citizens. The many kinds and levels of basic | 2 |
| and advanced services and the
integration of provision by | 3 |
| converging modes of wireline, cable, wireless satellite, | 4 |
| wireless towers, wireless locations, utility lines, and voice | 5 |
| over Internet, and information kiosk web services, call for | 6 |
| statewide cooperation in better data collection and sharing. | 7 |
| This includes data about current and newly emerging | 8 |
| availability, choices, and costs of basic and advanced | 9 |
| telephone and telecommunications and evaluation of service | 10 |
| quality and use and for transition to new baseline levels of | 11 |
| broadband for daily use. | 12 |
| (5) The need for assistance to residents with special basic | 13 |
| telecommunication and assistive technology needs. There are | 14 |
| social needs for better information by many kinds of consumers
| 15 |
| who have limited telephone and telecommunications choices, | 16 |
| including needs to understand special programs for basic life | 17 |
| connections and assistive services, as well as opportunities to | 18 |
| benefit from stable telecommunications addresses and special | 19 |
| service designated for universal service connectivity and | 20 |
| adaptive connections, regardless of visual, hearing, physical, | 21 |
| or developmental condition. | 22 |
| (6) The need for better public access to telecommunications | 23 |
| services. There are needs for all consumers to better | 24 |
| understand how to use public access information services, | 25 |
| including call-in and call-out services of 911, use of 411 | 26 |
| personal services and electronic directory assistance, 311 | 27 |
| local government information, and new 211 public and community | 28 |
| human services. | 29 |
| (7) The need for better cooperation among local, county, | 30 |
| regional, and Statewide telecommunications planning and | 31 |
| outcomes tracking. There are needs for local, county, and | 32 |
| statewide public officials and
planning bodies to have better | 33 |
| information on telephone and telecommunications capacity and | 34 |
| usage and digital and technological skills in order to |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 4 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| undertake multi-year plans and public infrastructure | 2 |
| investments, to communicate the telecommunications readiness | 3 |
| of particular facilities or areas, and reduce the costs to | 4 |
| local taxpayers for basic infrastructure, as well as for | 5 |
| emergency safety and core health connections services, which | 6 |
| often require advanced telecommunications for life supporting | 7 |
| uses and greatest savings in public and resident costs and | 8 |
| efficiencies in network usage | 9 |
| (8) The need for lesser connected residents to maintain | 10 |
| access and technological skills at home, at work, and in public | 11 |
| settings in order for Illinois to compete in the world | 12 |
| marketplace. There are needs for all Illinois residents, and | 13 |
| especially residents with less
than average resources or in | 14 |
| lesser connected communities or with special needs, to gain and | 15 |
| maintain technological and digital literacy skills to use basic | 16 |
| and advanced telecommunications in homes, at work, in schools, | 17 |
| libraries, community centers, and health care facilities, and | 18 |
| in public agencies and in settings, including at public and | 19 |
| commercial information kiosks or information ATM machines; | 20 |
| including the need to systematically increase the | 21 |
| telecommunications use capacity of the Illinois workforce to | 22 |
| reduce unemployment and underemployment in Illinois, which | 23 |
| continues at substantially higher levels than national | 24 |
| averages and which lags in terms of hiring for professional, | 25 |
| technical, and entry-level employment in the face of regional | 26 |
| and worldwide trends and models of success. | 27 |
| (9) The need for cooperation among State agencies | 28 |
| concerning telecommunications access and technological skills | 29 |
| programs to increase stakeholder investments from public and | 30 |
| private parties. There are needs for cooperation among many | 31 |
| State agencies, including cooperation among the Department of | 32 |
| Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Commerce | 33 |
| Commission, and the many programs that have responsibility for | 34 |
| outreach concerning skill building, public benefit access, |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 5 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| literacy, communication, and library networks, and community | 2 |
| quality of life planning and implementation. | 3 |
| (10) The need for a public-private coordinating committee | 4 |
| to work with the Department of Commerce and Economic | 5 |
| Opportunity and its Advisory Committee on Elimination of the | 6 |
| Digital Divide to integrate outreach and multi-year | 7 |
| sustainable approaches. Coordinating and cooperating parties | 8 |
| need to include telecommunications providers, | 9 |
| telecommunications-related technology product and service | 10 |
| providers, community technology providers, consumer interest | 11 |
| and economic development and health and safety organizations, | 12 |
| community service and research programs of institutions of | 13 |
| higher education and community service and technological | 14 |
| skills programs of elementary and secondary education, public | 15 |
| agencies and local and regional planning bodies in all regions | 16 |
| of the State, and other State and federal agencies and offices | 17 |
| to assist in enabling all interested parties in participating | 18 |
| in outreach, outcomes, planning, and digital literacy | 19 |
| activities, in identifying appropriate sources of revenues for | 20 |
| specific programs, and in developing new sources of endowment | 21 |
| or program matching funds, including through programs and | 22 |
| partnerships to share information about the synergies and | 23 |
| shared data and outcomes information on Digital Literacy and | 24 |
| Technology Access programs for underserved areas and | 25 |
| populations in the State. | 26 |
| Section 10. Telecommunications outreach cooperation. | 27 |
| Subject to appropriation, the Department of Commerce and | 28 |
| Economic Opportunity, as part of the Director's responsibility | 29 |
| for regional planning, technology, industrial competitiveness, | 30 |
| and workforce skills, for electronic product life cycle | 31 |
| enterprises, and for communication with telecommunications | 32 |
| carriers and others in relation to the Eliminate the Digital | 33 |
| Divide Law, shall establish a telecommunications outreach |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 6 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| program within the Division of Technology and Industrial | 2 |
| Competitiveness, in consultation with the Illinois Commerce | 3 |
| Commission. The telecommunications outreach program shall do | 4 |
| all of the following: | 5 |
| (1) Convene a working group of all public agencies, | 6 |
| telecommunications providers,
and community and consumer | 7 |
| enterprises or institutions that have substantial outreach | 8 |
| programs concerning educating residents, especially | 9 |
| low-income, less connected, and special needs residents, | 10 |
| to catalog telecommunications outreach and marketing | 11 |
| programs, audiences, communication processes, and | 12 |
| potential means of cooperation. | 13 |
| (2) Undertake an expanded outreach and marketing | 14 |
| process among
telecommunications providers and others to | 15 |
| secure contributions to the Eliminate the Digital Divide | 16 |
| Trust Program, in order to highlight the locations of | 17 |
| public access community technology centers and services, | 18 |
| linked with all State departments and offices, and to | 19 |
| encourage the acquisition and maintenance of basic and more | 20 |
| advanced technological and digital literacy skills linked | 21 |
| with Internet and other telecommunications in underserved | 22 |
| communities. | 23 |
| (3) Establish and undertake a program of outreach to | 24 |
| implement a Good Samaritan Computer program to solicit | 25 |
| voluntary contributions to assist low-income individuals | 26 |
| and families in purchasing, using, and maintaining | 27 |
| computers and internet connects, coordinated with other | 28 |
| outreach and solicitation programs for individual | 29 |
| contributions. | 30 |
| (4) Establish among parties participating under this | 31 |
| Section and other Sections established in this Act, a | 32 |
| public-private coordinating committee with responsibility | 33 |
| to help identify and secure multi-year investment or | 34 |
| endowment funds and program funds, including through |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 7 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| federal, national, and international programs, including | 2 |
| through cooperative outreach programs and through | 3 |
| matching, formal or informal partnerships or cooperation, | 4 |
| including tracking outcomes and research data, through an | 5 |
| annual review of achievements of programs of the Department | 6 |
| and others, through opportunities for local access plans in | 7 |
| all communities to participate, and other means to expand | 8 |
| digital literacy and technology access through an | 9 |
| Eliminate the Digital Divide Community Trust process or | 10 |
| future structure as a local-State stakeholder community to | 11 |
| assist in improving the quality of lives and strengthening | 12 |
| the family and social networks of low income and other | 13 |
| lesser connected residents and entities. | 14 |
| Section 15. Telephone and telecommunications service | 15 |
| outcomes, data sharing, and planning. Subject to | 16 |
| appropriation, the Department of Commerce and Economic | 17 |
| Opportunity, in cooperation with the Illinois Commerce | 18 |
| Commission and the Illinois Attorney General, shall establish a | 19 |
| Telecommunications Service Outcomes, Data Sharing, and Local | 20 |
| Planning program. The program shall: | 21 |
| (1) Convene a local-State-federal telecommunications | 22 |
| cooperative data
collection and sharing working group to | 23 |
| make recommendations on State-federal cooperation, | 24 |
| including basic and broadband telecommunications data from | 25 |
| FCC form 477, to assist decision-makers, planners, and | 26 |
| consumer protection parties at the State and local levels | 27 |
| to gain better data to make decisions concerning all modes | 28 |
| of telecommunications and information infrastructure, | 29 |
| including homeland security standards. | 30 |
| (2) Establish and undertake a regional-local | 31 |
| telecommunications planning process in
cooperation with 7 | 32 |
| to 10 regional telecommunications service planning areas | 33 |
| in Illinois, regional planning councils and their member |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 8 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| public officials, other parties within multi-county areas, | 2 |
| nonprofit community development, technology and media | 3 |
| networks, and telecommunications consumer groups in these | 4 |
| regions, along the lines of using an RFP process to provide | 5 |
| grants to community telecommunications planning | 6 |
| facilitators. | 7 |
| (3) Establish and undertake special community | 8 |
| telecommunication local access planning for sustainability | 9 |
| process for community-based collaboratives or consortia, | 10 |
| with grant funding available from Department programs, | 11 |
| from public-private partnerships, or from the Eliminate | 12 |
| the Digital Divide Program or a combination of sources, | 13 |
| plan for programs that assist low income families to secure | 14 |
| loans and access to special discount programs of electronic | 15 |
| product companies, and plan for electronic product | 16 |
| recovery and recycling programs and enterprises. | 17 |
| (4) Undertake demonstration telephone and | 18 |
| telecommunications quality of
service feedback assemblies | 19 |
| in a number of local access places in areas of 5,000 up to | 20 |
| 60,000 residents in each telecommunications service | 21 |
| region, with an initial focus on low-income or otherwise | 22 |
| lesser connected communities, with a purpose of bringing | 23 |
| together a cross-section of consumers of all modes of | 24 |
| telecommunications to provide systematic feedback on top | 25 |
| priorities for telecommunications infrastructure or | 26 |
| services to improve the quality of families and | 27 |
| communities, and specific improvements in the quality, | 28 |
| availability, costs, and information about each | 29 |
| telecommunications provider or service. The assemblies | 30 |
| shall be hosted by non-profit, educational, community, or | 31 |
| public agencies or enterprises, or consortia of those | 32 |
| entities, that are not substantial providers of | 33 |
| telecommunications services and that shall work closely | 34 |
| with regional planning councils and related community |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 9 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| development and consumer services networks in the area. | 2 |
| Section 20. Technological literacy trust grants and | 3 |
| outcome tracking initiative. Subject to appropriation, the | 4 |
| Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall | 5 |
| establish an Eliminate the Digital Divide Community Trust | 6 |
| Program as a continuation and expansion of the Eliminate the | 7 |
| Digital Divide grant program, in cooperation with other State | 8 |
| agencies, community technology and community development | 9 |
| networks, consumer representatives, education and higher | 10 |
| education agencies and extension services, regional planning | 11 |
| councils, local public agency officials, and public, | 12 |
| nonprofit, and business institutions or enterprises that | 13 |
| provide grants and other resources for telephone, | 14 |
| telecommunications and related quality of life services, | 15 |
| training, or infrastructure and in consultation with the | 16 |
| advisory committee on elimination of the digital divide. The | 17 |
| Trust Program may receive voluntary contributions directly | 18 |
| from members of the public, including any entity, and from the | 19 |
| voluntary contribution programs of telecommunications | 20 |
| providers authorized under the Eliminate the Digital Divide | 21 |
| Law. | 22 |
| The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall | 23 |
| do all of the following: | 24 |
| (1) Provide "Train the Trainer" grants, other | 25 |
| professional development grants, and
evaluation-linked | 26 |
| grants to determine the outcomes and the impacts of digital | 27 |
| literacy and technology access programs of the Department | 28 |
| of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and other State | 29 |
| agencies and significant regional or statewide programs to | 30 |
| entities or consortia that are region-based, | 31 |
| circuit-based, or statewide-based community technology | 32 |
| centers or networks that participate in the broadly-based | 33 |
| annual Telecommunications Conference on Economic |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 10 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| Development and telehealth sponsored by the University of | 2 |
| Illinois extension program and others. | 3 |
| (2) Provide "Community Innovation" grants of between | 4 |
| $5,000 to $50,000 to nonprofit community-based | 5 |
| organizations to demonstrate innovative means to host | 6 |
| consumer and community feedback activities on the impact of | 7 |
| telecommunication access and technological skills on | 8 |
| quality of life, including assemblies in local access | 9 |
| places, in low-income areas and other underserved | 10 |
| populations and communities with special and assistive | 11 |
| needs, and for purposes of developing community | 12 |
| telecommunication plans, or community technology center or | 13 |
| consortia sustainability plans, to extend access and | 14 |
| skills, including in homes, work locations, community | 15 |
| technology centers, and public settings, including | 16 |
| information kiosks, and including through innovative | 17 |
| job-producing and revenue-generating community | 18 |
| enterprises, including in the expanding areas of | 19 |
| processing, demanufacturing and distribution of used | 20 |
| technologies, undertaking electronic product recycling | 21 |
| activities, and the development and distribution of | 22 |
| personal information and content management tools and | 23 |
| information ATM cards in the community, either directly or | 24 |
| through statewide or regional circuit consortia with | 25 |
| substantial experience in assisting such organizations. | 26 |
| (3) In consultation with the Advisory Committee on | 27 |
| Elimination of the Digital Divide, provide "Family and | 28 |
| Social Network Strengthening" grants
of an amount to be | 29 |
| determined to innovative organizations or enterprises that | 30 |
| have the capacity to provide and sustain personal | 31 |
| information and content management tools and services, | 32 |
| including assistive technologies, e-mail and e-personal | 33 |
| applications at low-cost or no-cost to low-income and other | 34 |
| underserved families, individuals, and small businesses to |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 11 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| enable them to acquire skills and develop and strengthen | 2 |
| links with ongoing consumer and small business services and | 3 |
| Community Technology Centers and other important work and | 4 |
| family support networks and with special focus on | 5 |
| regionwide and statewide sustainable networks and | 6 |
| services. | 7 |
| (4) Co-sponsor an annual statewide community | 8 |
| technology center professional
development conference and | 9 |
| any regional professional development online resources and | 10 |
| calendar activities recommended by the advisory committee | 11 |
| on elimination of the digital divide. | 12 |
| (5) Convene a stakeholder conference on resources to | 13 |
| eliminate the digital
divide and assist in planning for | 14 |
| statewide broadband extension, digital government, and | 15 |
| Illinois connection initiatives to support participation | 16 |
| by stakeholders in Eliminate the Digital Divide programs | 17 |
| and centers. | 18 |
| (6) Administer the resources in the current Eliminate | 19 |
| the Digital Divide grant
program, with interest on funds in | 20 |
| the program to be used by the program and with funds | 21 |
| received by the program from contributions from residents | 22 |
| and stakeholders in digital literacy, including from | 23 |
| telecommunications formulaic or other contributions, not | 24 |
| subject to reduction or use by the general treasury | 25 |
| reduction or use by the general treasury and with authority | 26 |
| to make grants of up to $75,000 for technological skills | 27 |
| and telecommunication and technology access to Community | 28 |
| Technology Centers and to "Train the Trainer" grants | 29 |
| provided for in this Section and to enable Community | 30 |
| Technology Centers to assist participants in understanding | 31 |
| and using personal information and content management | 32 |
| tools as part of regular training and access services and | 33 |
| as a means to assist those Centers in developing on-going | 34 |
| services to participants and sources of earned revenue. |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 12 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| (7) Prepare an annual report on Digital Literacy and | 2 |
| Technology and Telecommunication Access and their impact | 3 |
| on community and economic development in the State, | 4 |
| including a summary of outcomes and annual comparisons of | 5 |
| impacts of grants since the initial grants under the | 6 |
| Eliminate the Digital Divide Law, by February 1 of each | 7 |
| year. | 8 |
| (8) Propose a formal Eliminate the Digital Divide | 9 |
| Community Trust structure or entity involving | 10 |
| public-private-community partnership activity, in | 11 |
| consultation with coordinating and cooperating parties | 12 |
| involved with activities under this Act,
that has the | 13 |
| capacity to bring resources from State and local agencies, | 14 |
| telecommunications providers, business and charitable | 15 |
| entities, and cooperation among those parties, including | 16 |
| opportunities to apply for federal and other public, | 17 |
| business, or charitable grants, funds, or revenue sources | 18 |
| and that may undertake activities on October 1, 2006 or | 19 |
| January 1, 2007.
| 20 |
| Section 900. The Eliminate the Digital Divide Law is | 21 |
| amended by changing Section 5-30 as follows:
| 22 |
| (30 ILCS 780/5-30)
| 23 |
| Sec. 5-30. Community Technology Grant Program.
| 24 |
| (a) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall | 25 |
| administer
the Community Technology Center Grant Program under | 26 |
| which the
Department shall make grants in accordance with this | 27 |
| Article
for planning, establishment, administration, and | 28 |
| expansion
of Community Technology Centers and for assisting | 29 |
| public hospitals,
libraries, and park districts in eliminating | 30 |
| the digital divide. The purposes
of the grants shall include, | 31 |
| but
not be limited to, volunteer recruitment and management, | 32 |
| training and
instruction, infrastructure, and
related goods |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 13 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| and services for Community Technology Centers and public
| 2 |
| hospitals, libraries, and park districts. The total amount
of | 3 |
| grants under this Section in fiscal year 2001 shall not exceed | 4 |
| $2,000,000,
except that this limit on grants shall not apply to | 5 |
| grants funded by
appropriations from the Digital Divide | 6 |
| Elimination Fund.
No Community Technology Center may receive a | 7 |
| grant of more than $50,000 under
this Section in a particular | 8 |
| fiscal year.
| 9 |
| (b) Public hospitals, libraries, park districts, and State | 10 |
| educational
agencies, local educational
agencies, institutions | 11 |
| of higher education, and other public and
private nonprofit or | 12 |
| for-profit agencies and organizations are eligible
to receive | 13 |
| grants under this Program, provided that a local educational
| 14 |
| agency or public or private educational
agency or organization | 15 |
| must, in order to be eligible to receive grants under
this | 16 |
| Program, provide computer access and educational services | 17 |
| using
information technology to the public at one or more of | 18 |
| its educational
buildings or facilities at least 12 hours each | 19 |
| week. A group of eligible
entities is
also eligible to receive | 20 |
| a grant if the group follows the procedures
for group | 21 |
| applications in 34 CFR 75.127-129 of the Education Department | 22 |
| General
Administrative Regulations.
| 23 |
| To be eligible to apply for a grant, a Community
Technology | 24 |
| Center, public hospital, library, or park district must serve a
| 25 |
| community in which not less than 40%
of the
students are | 26 |
| eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under the national
| 27 |
| school lunch program or in which not less than 30% of the | 28 |
| students
are eligible
for a free lunch under the national | 29 |
| school lunch program; however, if funding
is insufficient to | 30 |
| approve all grant applications for a particular fiscal year,
| 31 |
| the Department may impose a higher minimum percentage threshold | 32 |
| for that fiscal
year. Determinations of communities and | 33 |
| determinations of the percentage of
students in a community who | 34 |
| are eligible for a free or reduced price lunch
under the |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 14 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| national school lunch program shall be in accordance with rules
| 2 |
| adopted by the Department.
| 3 |
| Any entities that have received a Community
Technology | 4 |
| Center grant under the federal Community Technology Centers | 5 |
| Program
are also eligible to apply for grants under this | 6 |
| Program.
| 7 |
| The Department shall
provide assistance to Community | 8 |
| Technology Centers in making those
determinations for purposes | 9 |
| of applying for grants.
| 10 |
| (c) Grant applications shall be submitted to the Department | 11 |
| not later than
March 15 for the next fiscal year.
| 12 |
| (d) The Department shall adopt rules setting forth the | 13 |
| required form
and contents of grant applications.
| 14 |
| (e) There is created
the Digital Divide Elimination | 15 |
| Advisory Committee. The advisory committee
shall consist of 7
5 | 16 |
| members appointed one each by the Governor, the President of
| 17 |
| the Senate, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker of the | 18 |
| House, and the House
Minority Leader , and 2 appointed by the | 19 |
| Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, one of whom | 20 |
| shall be a representative of the telecommunications industry | 21 |
| and one of whom shall represent community technology centers . | 22 |
| The members of the advisory committee shall receive no
| 23 |
| compensation for their services as members of the advisory | 24 |
| committee but may be
reimbursed for their actual expenses | 25 |
| incurred in serving on the advisory
committee. The Digital | 26 |
| Divide Elimination Advisory Committee shall advise the
| 27 |
| Department in establishing criteria and priorities for | 28 |
| identifying recipients
of
grants under this Act. The advisory | 29 |
| committee shall obtain advice from the
technology industry | 30 |
| regarding current technological standards. The advisory
| 31 |
| committee shall seek any available federal funding.
| 32 |
| (f) There is created the Digital Divide Elimination Working | 33 |
| Group. The Working Group shall consist of the Director of | 34 |
| Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or his or her designee, the |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 15 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| Director of Central Management Services, or his or her | 2 |
| designee, and the Executive Director of the Illinois Commerce | 3 |
| Commission, or his or her designee. The Director of Commerce | 4 |
| and Economic Opportunity, or his or her designee, shall serve | 5 |
| as chair of the Working Group. The Working Group shall consult | 6 |
| with the members of the Digital Divide Elimination Advisory | 7 |
| Committee and may consult with various groups including, but | 8 |
| not limited to, telecommunications providers, | 9 |
| telecommunications-related technology products and service | 10 |
| providers, community technology providers, community and | 11 |
| consumer organizations, businesses and business organizations, | 12 |
| literacy and technology access programs and agencies, and | 13 |
| federal government agencies.
| 14 |
| (g) Duties of the Digital Divide Elimination Working Group | 15 |
| include all of the following: | 16 |
| (1) Undertaking a thorough review of grant, outreach, | 17 |
| and information programs available through the federal | 18 |
| government, local agencies, telecommunications providers, | 19 |
| and business and charitable entities for the purpose of | 20 |
| identifying appropriate sources of revenues for the | 21 |
| Digital Divide Elimination Fund and attempting to update | 22 |
| available grants on a regular basis. | 23 |
| (2) Researching and cataloging programs designed to | 24 |
| advance digital literacy and computer access that are | 25 |
| available through the federal government, local agencies, | 26 |
| telecommunications providers, and business and charitable | 27 |
| entities and attempting to update available programs on a | 28 |
| regular basis. | 29 |
| (3) Presenting the information compiled from items (1) | 30 |
| and (2) to the Department of Commerce and Economic | 31 |
| Opportunity, which shall serve as a single point of contact | 32 |
| for applying for funding for the Digital Divide Elimination | 33 |
| Fund and for distributing information to the public | 34 |
| regarding all programs designed to advance digital |
|
|
|
09400HB3650ham002 |
- 16 - |
LRB094 10275 MKM 44779 a |
|
| 1 |
| literacy and computer access.
| 2 |
| (Source: P.A. 91-704, eff. 7-1-00; 92-22, eff. 6-30-01.)".
|
|