00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 363(L&C) 01 "An Act relating to broadband; establishing the office of broadband; providing for a 02 broadband grant and loan program; establishing the Statewide Broadband Advisory 03 Board; establishing community engagement task forces; and providing for an effective 04 date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06  * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 07 to read: 08 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND INTENT. (a) The legislature finds that 09 (1) access to broadband is critical for a person to fully participate in modern 10 society and the economy; 11 (2) increasing broadband access to unserved and underserved areas of the state 12 serves a fundamental governmental purpose and function and benefits citizens of the state by 13 enabling access to health care, education, and essential services, providing economic 14 opportunities, and enhancing public health and safety; 01 (3) achieving affordable and quality broadband access for all citizens of the 02 state requires sustained investment, research, local and community participation, and 03 partnerships between private, public, and nonprofit entities; 04 (4) the Federal Communications Commission has adopted a national 05 broadband plan that includes recommendations directed to federal, state, and local 06 governments, including recommendations to 07 (A) design policies that ensure robust competition and maximize 08 consumer welfare, innovation, and investment; 09 (B) ensure efficient allocation and management of assets that the 10 government controls or influences to encourage network upgrades and competitive 11 entry; 12 (C) reform current universal service mechanisms to support 13 deployment of broadband in high-cost areas, ensuring that low-income individuals can 14 afford broadband and supporting efforts to boost adoption and use of broadband; and 15 (D) reform laws, policies, standards, and incentives to maximize the 16 benefits of broadband in sectors significantly influenced by the government, including 17 public education, health care, and government operations; 18 (5) extensive investments have been made by the telecommunications industry 19 and the public sector, and policies and programs have been adopted to provide affordable 20 broadband throughout the state, that will provide a foundation to build a comprehensive 21 statewide framework for additional actions necessary for advancing the broadband goals of 22 the state; and 23 (6) providing additional funding mechanisms to increase broadband access in 24 unserved and underserved areas is in the best interest of the state. 25 (b) The purpose of this Act is to establish a grant and loan program that will support 26 the extension of broadband infrastructure to unserved and underserved areas. 27 (c) To ensure the grant and loan program established by sec. 2 of this Act primarily 28 serves the public interest, it is the intent of the legislature that a grant or loan provided to a 29 private entity under the program be conditioned on a guarantee that an asset or infrastructure 30 funded by the grant or loan program will be developed and maintained for public use for at 31 least 15 years. 01  * Sec. 2. AS 44.33 is amended by adding new sections to read: 02 Article 16A. Broadband. 03 Sec. 44.33.910. Office of broadband; powers and duties. (a) The office of 04 broadband is established in the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic 05 Development. 06 (b) The office serves as the central planning body for broadband in the state 07 and has the power and duty to 08 (1) coordinate with local governments, tribes, public and private 09 entities, nonprofit organizations, and consumer-owned and investor-owned utilities to 10 develop strategies and plans promoting deployment of broadband infrastructure and 11 greater broadband access, while protecting proprietary information; 12 (2) review existing broadband initiatives, policies, and public and 13 private investments; 14 (3) develop, recommend, and implement a statewide plan to encourage 15 cost-effective broadband access and to make recommendations for increased usage, 16 particularly in rural and other unserved and underserved areas; 17 (4) update broadband goals and definitions for broadband service in 18 unserved and underserved areas as technology advances, except that the definition for 19 broadband service may not be actual speeds of less than 25 Megabits per second 20 download and three Megabits per second upload; 21 (5) encourage public-private partnerships to increase deployment and 22 adoption of broadband services and applications; and 23 (6) review and consider the recommendations of the Statewide 24 Broadband Advisory Board established under AS 44.33.920. 25 (c) When developing plans or strategies for broadband deployment, the office 26 must consider 27 (1) partnerships between communities, tribes, nonprofit organizations, 28 local governments, consumer-owned and investor-owned utilities, and public and 29 private entities; 30 (2) funding opportunities that provide for the coordination of public, 31 private, state, and federal funds for the purposes of making broadband infrastructure or 01 broadband services available to rural and unserved and underserved areas; 02 (3) barriers to the deployment, adoption, and use of broadband service, 03 including affordability of service and project coordination logistics; and 04 (4) requiring a minimum broadband service of 25 Megabits per second 05 download and three Megabits per second upload speed, that is scalable to faster 06 service. 07 (d) The office may assist applicants for the grant and loan program established 08 under AS 44.33.915 in seeking federal funding or matching grants and other grant 09 opportunities for deploying broadband services. 10 (e) The office may take all appropriate steps to seek and apply for federal 11 funds or grants for which the office is eligible and may accept donations. 12 (f) The office shall adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative 13 Procedure Act) to carry out its duties. 14 Sec. 44.33.915. Broadband grant and loan program. (a) The office of 15 broadband shall establish a competitive grant and loan program to award funding to 16 eligible applicants to promote the expansion of access to broadband service in 17 unserved and underserved areas. The office shall work in collaboration with the 18 Statewide Broadband Advisory Board established under AS 44.33.920 to review 19 applications and award grants. 20 (b) Grants and loans may be awarded under this section to assist in funding 21 acquisition, installation, and construction of middle mile and last mile infrastructure 22 that supports broadband services and to assist in funding strategic planning for 23 deploying broadband service in unserved and underserved areas. 24 (c) The office may fund all or part of an application for funding. 25 (d) The office shall award funds under this section to qualified applicants in 26 all regions of the state. 27 (e) The office shall consider affordability and quality of service to end users in 28 making a determination on an application. 29 Sec. 44.33.920. Statewide Broadband Advisory Board. (a) The Statewide 30 Broadband Advisory Board is established. 31 (b) The advisory board shall work with the community engagement task 01 forces established under AS 44.33.930 to look at and consider, from a community 02 perspective, the challenges and opportunities related to regional connectivity. 03 (c) The advisory board is composed of eight members appointed by the 04 governor to three-year terms as follows: 05 (1) one member who is a mechanical engineer; 06 (2) one member who is a civil engineer; 07 (3) one member who is an aerospace engineer; 08 (4) one member who has expertise in telecommunications; 09 (5) one member who has expertise in fiber optics; 10 (6) one member who has expertise in satellite technology; 11 (7) one member who has expertise in microwave technology; and 12 (8) one member who serves as a technology neutral consultant. 13 (d) Members of the advisory board, other than the technology neutral 14 consultant, shall receive compensation of $307 a day while attending advisory board 15 meetings and shall be entitled to travel expenses and per diem authorized by law for 16 members of other boards and commissions. The technology neutral consultant is in the 17 exempt service and is entitled to a monthly salary equal to a step in Range 27 of the 18 salary schedule in AS 39.27.011(a). 19 (e) In this section, "advisory board" means the Statewide Broadband Advisory 20 Board. 21 Sec. 44.33.930. Community engagement task forces. (a) Community 22 engagement task forces shall be established by the director of the office of broadband 23 who shall appoint state residents to serve as needed and for the duration requested by 24 the office. 25 (b) The community engagement task forces shall include members 26 representing 27 (1) a tribe; 28 (2) a broadband user; 29 (3) a health care provider; 30 (4) a member of the Alaska Search and Rescue Association or an 31 operational member organization; 01 (5) the social services sector; 02 (6) a tribal or state governmental employee with access to judicial 03 records; 04 (7) the transportation industry; 05 (8) a member of a regional development organization; 06 (9) a local government public servant; and 07 (10) a state government public servant. 08 (c) Members of a community engagement task force shall receive 09 compensation of $307 a day while attending task force meetings and shall be entitled 10 to travel expenses and per diem authorized by law for members of boards and 11 commissions. 12 (d) In this section, "regional development organization" means a nonprofit 13 organization or nonprofit corporation formed to encourage economic development 14 within a particular region of the state that includes the entire area of each municipality 15 within that region and that has a board of directors that represents the region's 16 economic, political, and social interests. 17 Sec. 44.33.940. Definitions. In AS 44.33.910 - 44.33.940, 18 (1) "office" means the office of broadband established under 19 AS 44.33.910; 20 (2) "underserved area" means an area that does not have broadband 21 speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second downstream and at least 20 Megabits per 22 second upstream with a latency sufficient to support real-time interactive applications; 23 (3) "unserved area" means an area that does not have broadband 24 speeds of at least 25 Megabits per second downstream and at least 3 Megabits per 25 second upstream with a latency sufficient to support real-time interactive applications. 26  * Sec. 3. AS 44.33.910, 44.33.915, 44.33.920, 44.33.930, and 44.33.940 are repealed 27 June 30, 2030. 28  * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).