SCS CSHB 363(FIN): "An Act establishing the office of broadband; creating the broadband parity adjustment fund; establishing the Statewide Broadband Advisory Board; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 363(FIN) 01 "An Act establishing the office of broadband; creating the broadband parity adjustment 02 fund; establishing the Statewide Broadband Advisory Board; and providing for an 03 effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 06 to read: 07 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 08 (1) access to broadband is critical for a person to fully participate in modern 09 society and the economy; 10 (2) increasing broadband access to unserved and underserved areas of the state 11 serves a fundamental governmental purpose and function and benefits citizens of the state by 12 enabling access to health care, education, and essential services, providing economic 13 opportunities, and enhancing public health and safety; 14 (3) achieving affordable and quality broadband access for all citizens of the 15 state requires sustained investment, research, local and community participation, and
01 partnerships between private, public, and nonprofit entities; and 02 (4) extensive investments have been made by the telecommunications industry 03 and the public sector, and policies and programs have been adopted to provide affordable 04 broadband throughout the state, that will provide a foundation to build a comprehensive 05 statewide framework for additional actions necessary for advancing the broadband goals of 06 the state. 07 * Sec. 2. AS 44.33 is amended by adding new sections to read: 08 Article 16A. Broadband. 09 Sec. 44.33.910. Office of broadband; purpose, powers, and duties. (a) The 10 office of broadband is established in the Department of Commerce, Community, and 11 Economic Development. 12 (b) The purpose of the office of broadband is to 13 (1) expand broadband access and digital equity in the state through 14 federal, tribal, and local partnerships; 15 (2) focus on broadband infrastructure projects that meet certain speed, 16 latency, reliability, and scalability requirements, while maintaining technological 17 neutrality within those requirements; 18 (3) identify scalable and sustainable technologies that meet the needs 19 of state residents into the future; and 20 (4) support broadband equity and affordability for all state residents. 21 (c) The office of broadband shall 22 (1) prioritize broadband service expansion in the following order of 23 priority: 24 (A) unserved areas; 25 (B) underserved areas; and 26 (C) anchor institutions; 27 (2) make grants to eligible grantees and prioritize grants to grantees 28 with in-state experience, qualifications, and expertise needed to deploy, operate, 29 repair, and maintain broadband infrastructure; 30 (3) develop a procedure for issuance of grants; 31 (4) develop a procedure for adoption of broadband service maps that
01 (A) incorporates the Federal Communications Commission 02 maps developed in accordance with P.L. 116-130 (Broadband DATA Act) to 03 define unserved and underserved areas; 04 (B) allows for broadband parity adjustments; and 05 (C) provides for a process to challenge adoption of broadband 06 service maps, including a public notice and comment period; 07 (5) administer and set criteria for the broadband parity adjustment 08 program under AS 44.33.915; 09 (6) streamline permitting to support broadband deployment; 10 (7) encourage local workforce development with in-state partners 11 through the University of Alaska, technical, vocational, or trade schools, and 12 apprenticeship programs; and 13 (8) review and consider the recommendations of the Statewide 14 Broadband Advisory Board established under AS 44.33.920. 15 (d) The office of broadband shall adopt regulations under AS 44.62 16 (Administrative Procedure Act) to carry out its duties. 17 (e) In this section, "anchor institution" means a school, library, health care 18 facility, health care provider, public safety entity, institution of higher education, 19 public housing organization, community support organization, or other entity that 20 facilitates greater use of broadband service by low-income individuals, unemployed 21 individuals, or elderly individuals. 22 Sec. 44.33.915. Broadband parity adjustment fund. (a) The broadband 23 parity adjustment fund is created as a separate fund in the treasury for the purpose of 24 (1) offsetting the costs of broadband services for consumers under (b) 25 of this section; and 26 (2) making grants to eligible beneficiaries under (c) of this section to 27 improve the performance of and access to broadband across the state. 28 (b) The office of broadband shall set the criteria for offsetting the costs of 29 broadband services for consumers in the state by regulation. 30 (c) An eligible beneficiary may include a resident, business, nonprofit 31 organization, local government, tribal organization as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5304(l), or
01 Native entity as defined in 15 U.S.C. 9501(10) in the state, but may not include a 02 school district, library, or health care facility. 03 (d) The broadband parity adjustment fund shall be administered by the office 04 of broadband. The fund consists of 05 (1) money appropriated by the legislature; 06 (2) gifts, bequests, contributions from other sources, and federal 07 money; and 08 (3) interest earned on the fund balance. 09 (e) The legislature may appropriate money from the broadband parity 10 adjustment fund to the office of broadband to carry out the purposes of the fund. 11 (f) The broadband parity adjustment fund is not a dedicated fund. 12 (g) In this section, 13 (1) "health care facility" has the meaning given in AS 18.23.400(n). 14 (2) "school district" has the meaning given in AS 14.30.350. 15 Sec. 44.33.920. Statewide Broadband Advisory Board. (a) The Statewide 16 Broadband Advisory Board is established. 17 (b) The purpose of the advisory board is to provide technology-neutral input, 18 recommendations, and advice regarding 19 (1) state broadband policy, goals, and objectives; 20 (2) project proposal processes and criteria for project selection; 21 (3) mapping and data collection and sharing efforts; and 22 (4) progress made on the recommendations of the Governor's Task 23 Force on Broadband established under Administrative Order No. 322. 24 (c) The advisory board is composed of 25 (1) the commissioner of education and early development or the 26 commissioner's designee; 27 (2) the commissioner of commerce, community, and economic 28 development or the commissioner's designee; 29 (3) two members from the legislature, serving as ex officio nonvoting 30 members, one of whom shall be appointed by the president of the senate and one by 31 the speaker of the house of representatives; and
01 (4) 11 additional members, at least two of whom live in an unserved or 02 underserved area, appointed by the governor to three-year terms 03 (A) representing a local government; 04 (B) representing an Alaska Native corporation; 05 (C) representing a tribal government; 06 (D) representing a school district; 07 (E) representing the University of Alaska; 08 (F) representing the health care community; 09 (G) representing the business community; 10 (H) representing the broadband industry; 11 (I) a broadband consumer; 12 (J) representing rural energy systems; and 13 (K) a technology neutral consultant. 14 (d) The advisory board shall establish a broadband technical working group to 15 provide technical recommendations to the advisory board. The advisory board shall 16 appoint individuals to the technical working group who collectively have expertise in 17 the different technologies that provide broadband service in the state and who manage 18 and deliver projects in the state. The broadband technical working group is composed 19 of eight members appointed by the advisory board to three-year terms as follows: 20 (1) one member who is a mechanical engineer; 21 (2) one member who is a civil engineer; 22 (3) one member who is an aerospace engineer; 23 (4) one member who has expertise in telecommunications; 24 (5) one member who has expertise in fiber optics; 25 (6) one member who has expertise in satellite technology; 26 (7) one member who has expertise in microwave technology; and 27 (8) the advisory board broadband industry representative. 28 (e) Members of the advisory board shall elect a chair from among the 29 members listed in or appointed under (c)(1), (2), or (4) of this section. 30 (f) Members of the advisory board and the broadband technical working group 31 are not entitled to compensation, per diem, or reimbursement of travel expenses.
01 Sec. 44.33.930. Definitions. In AS 44.33.910 - 44.33.930, 02 (1) "underserved area" means an area that does not have broadband 03 speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second downstream and at least 20 Megabits per 04 second upstream with a latency sufficient to support real-time interactive applications; 05 (2) "unserved area" means an area that does not have broadband 06 speeds of at least 25 Megabits per second downstream and at least 3 Megabits per 07 second upstream with a latency sufficient to support real-time interactive applications. 08 * Sec. 3. AS 44.33.910, 44.33.915, 44.33.920, and 44.33.930 are repealed June 30, 2030. 09 * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).