Full Text of SR0435 97th General Assembly
SR0435 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On July 2, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed | 3 | | into law the Land Grant College Act of 1862, sponsored by | 4 | | Vermont Congressman Justin Morrill; officially titled "An Act | 5 | | Donating Public Lands to the Several States and Territories | 6 | | which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and | 7 | | the Mechanic Arts," the Morrill Act provided each state with | 8 | | 30,000 acres of federal land for each member in their | 9 | | Congressional delegation; the land was then sold by the states | 10 | | and the proceeds used to fund public colleges that focused on | 11 | | agriculture and the mechanical arts; sixty-nine colleges were | 12 | | funded by these land grants, including the University of | 13 | | Illinois; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In 1890, the Second Morrill Land Grant Act of 1890 | 15 | | provided for an annual federal appropriation for the states, | 16 | | including for use in agriculture and mechanic arts community | 17 | | extension services, laying the basis for today's University of | 18 | | Illinois Extension Service and subsequent community extension | 19 | | services, including Illinois county fairs and the Illinois | 20 | | State Fair in Springfield; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, In 1901, Joliet Junior College was established as | 22 | | America's first public community college, as an experimental | 23 | | postgraduate high school program, the "brainchild" of J. |
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| 1 | | Stanley Brown, Superintendent of Joliet Township High School | 2 | | and William Rainey Harper, President of the University of | 3 | | Chicago; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, In 1917, the federal Smith-Hughes National | 5 | | Vocational Education Act of 1917 and subsequent federal | 6 | | legislation provided for annual federal funding for vocational | 7 | | and home economics programs, for vocational research, | 8 | | including through the Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984, | 9 | | and for many technology skill programs carried out in high | 10 | | schools and community colleges; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, In 1936, the Rural Electrification Act provided | 12 | | for the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) rural | 13 | | development and the Rural Electrification Administration to | 14 | | take responsibility, through loans and grants to cooperatives | 15 | | and local providers, to bring electricity to rural America, | 16 | | and, in 1949, the Rural Electrification Administration took | 17 | | responsibility to extend telephone services to rural areas, and | 18 | | became linked in 1965 and 1972 with the Appalachian Regional | 19 | | Development and the Rural Development Acts, and became the | 20 | | Rural Utilities Service in 1994; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, With the many research projects in Illinois which | 22 | | contributed to the development of the public Internet by 1995, | 23 | | the University of Illinois extension and other parties created |
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| 1 | | pioneering online community development tools available in | 2 | | every county by 1998, and, beginning in 2000, worked with the | 3 | | USDA-supported Rural Partners, Illinois Rural Health | 4 | | Association, Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, the office | 5 | | of the Lt. Governor under several administrations, and provider | 6 | | and consumer organizations, to host annual Rural | 7 | | Telecommunication and Health Conferences, initially bringing | 8 | | together rural parties and then adding parties from | 9 | | metropolitan Chicago in strong networks linking Internet | 10 | | infrastructure, services, and policy; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, In 1999 and 2000, the Illinois General Assembly | 12 | | adopted the Illinois Century Network law, linking schools, | 13 | | libraries, and other public institutions with Internet | 14 | | services, and the Eliminate the Digital Divide Law to provide | 15 | | digital literacy services through community technology centers | 16 | | in low income communities throughout the State; now, the | 17 | | Illinois Century Network serves 9000 schools, libraries, and | 18 | | community anchor institutions, and plays a role as a major | 19 | | "middle mile" fiber provider across the State; from 2002 to | 20 | | 2005, the statewide Illinois Community Technology Consortium | 21 | | project (funded with $1.3 million in community investment | 22 | | proceeds from Ameritech-SBC merger and matched by $2.7 million | 23 | | in federal, community foundation, State, and local grants and | 24 | | in-kind contributions), worked with institutions and circuit | 25 | | riders in all regions of Illinois, with assistance from UI |
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| 1 | | Extension in evaluation, professional development, and | 2 | | network-building; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, From these efforts, in 2004 the University of | 4 | | Illinois Urban and Regional Planning department created a | 5 | | policy report for Illinois Online, which became the basis for | 6 | | the creation of the Illinois Broadband Deployment Council in | 7 | | 2005, and with a newly appointed Broadband Deployment Council, | 8 | | launched in 2010; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly adopted the | 10 | | High Speed Internet Act which led to the creation of the | 11 | | Illinois public-private partnership for broadband data, | 12 | | infrastructure access, and extension of broadband adoption and | 13 | | use; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In 2007, the Federal Communications Commission | 15 | | began its Pilot Rural Health Care Program to link rural | 16 | | hospitals, clinics, and providers through high speed Internet, | 17 | | primarily fiber and fixed wireless, and the Illinois Rural | 18 | | Health Net was awarded $21 million for 3 years of activity, | 19 | | which began after the Illinois General Assembly, in January | 20 | | 2009, provided matching funds, along with funding electronic | 21 | | health record pilot programs in all regions of Illinois; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, In 2008, the Rural Utilities Service, through the |
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| 1 | | federal Farm Bill and the 2009 American Recovery and | 2 | | Reinvestment Act, took on major responsibilities to bring high | 3 | | speed Internet, or broadband Internet, infrastructure, and | 4 | | services to rural areas, in cooperation with the United States | 5 | | Department of Commerce's National Telecommunication and | 6 | | Information Administration; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, In 2009 and 2010, Illinois institutions, | 8 | | companies, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations | 9 | | received about $250 million in Federal USDA and Department of | 10 | | Commerce infrastructure and services multi-year awards, | 11 | | matched by broadband funds authorized by the Illinois General | 12 | | Assembly capital bill, and coordinated through a series of | 13 | | Regional Broadband Summits in Naperville, Chicago, Carbondale, | 14 | | and Champaign; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, In 2011, Illinois budget constraints presented | 16 | | challenges to future financial support for some Internet | 17 | | extension programs, including Internet infrastructure and | 18 | | service programs after the completion of federal funding in | 19 | | 2013, and the need to provide for Illinois Eliminate the | 20 | | Digital Divide digital literacy programs; public-private | 21 | | cooperation has been pledged to develop multi-year structures | 22 | | and commitments for sustainability of these programs, | 23 | | including through networks developed and strengthened by the | 24 | | Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, |
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| 1 | | Illinois land grant institutions, State universities, | 2 | | community colleges, and community anchor institution networks | 3 | | in each of the 48 community college areas; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, In fall 2011, the Federal Communications | 5 | | Commission launched the Universal Service Reform Program to | 6 | | integrate the provision of regular telephone service with | 7 | | Internet service in all states, with the greatest impact on | 8 | | rural areas that have opportunities to benefit from combined | 9 | | world-class telephone and Internet service through | 10 | | public-private cooperation; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Investments in Internet infrastructure and | 12 | | services programs have been demonstrated to bring a 10 times | 13 | | return-on-investment in economic activity, and to serve as | 14 | | crucial anchors for Illinois research, development, and job | 15 | | creation in technology firms supported by digital skills | 16 | | programs at all levels; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service cites the need | 18 | | for Internet connectivity to increase from today's 65-70% | 19 | | statewide (with many communities with less than 50% | 20 | | connectivity) to 85-95% for the United States to remain | 21 | | competitive in the world, and development organizations cite | 22 | | the need for fiber and advanced fixed wireless facilities | 23 | | providing from 100 megabit to 1 gigabit and higher service in |
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| 1 | | the next 5 years in order to retain and attract job-creating | 2 | | development; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, On September 10-15, 2012, almost 90,000 | 4 | | participants will convene at Chicago's McCormick Place for the | 5 | | biannual International Manufacturing Technology Show, | 6 | | including 9,000 students and educators at the Student Summit | 7 | | (Chicago's largest trade show), and many public officials and | 8 | | technology students and educators, as well as equipment | 9 | | manufacturers from across the State will be attending; | 10 | | therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 12 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we celebrate and | 13 | | commemorate, during 2012, the pioneering activities of | 14 | | Illinois institutions, companies, and agencies, particularly | 15 | | Land Grant-based research-teaching-extension universities, | 16 | | State universities, and community colleges to achieve | 17 | | Universal Internet Extension in Illinois; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That we work with the University of Illinois, the | 19 | | Illinois Department of Economic Opportunity, and related | 20 | | parties for Illinois and local elected officials to participate | 21 | | in appropriate research and extension celebrations of the | 22 | | Morrill Land Grant Act Sesquicentennial events, including | 23 | | showcasing groundbreaking events for economic development, and |
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| 1 | | events at county fairs and the Illinois State Fair; and be it | 2 | | further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That we work with Illinois schools, libraries, | 4 | | and community institutions to instill understanding of the | 5 | | importance of Digital Age beginning-to-advanced technology | 6 | | skills at all levels, including spreading regular information | 7 | | about opportunities for students, families, and educators from | 8 | | all regions of Illinois to work, including in local | 9 | | presentations by public officials; and be it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That we work to develop Illinois Broadband | 11 | | Awareness Programs with Partnership for a Connected Illinois | 12 | | and Community Anchor Institution networks in each library | 13 | | district, municipality, and county, watershed and community | 14 | | college districts, with regional planning bodies, and with | 15 | | Internet extension and economic development teams to highlight | 16 | | the benefits of broadband Internet skills and connectivity to | 17 | | positively impact the lives of families, businesses, and | 18 | | communities in meeting the 7 National Needs for Broadband | 19 | | (Health, Economic Opportunity, Education, Energy & | 20 | | Environment, Government Performance, Civic Engagement, and | 21 | | Public Safety) developed in the Federal Communications | 22 | | Commission's National Broadband Plan of 2010; and be it further | 23 | | RESOLVED, That we request the appropriate Illinois Senate |
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| 1 | | and House committees to work with their respective higher | 2 | | education, education, telecommunications, economic | 3 | | development, and healthcare committees, and with the Governor | 4 | | and all Constitutional officers, to plan for such Morrill Act | 5 | | Sesquicentennial commemoration and celebration events in | 6 | | Illinois and elsewhere.
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