‘ 1. Goals. The goals of the State related to high-speed broadband are to ensure the availability of competitive, secure, universal high-speed broadband services to promote economic development, education, delivery of cost-effective health care and public safety and to allow residents and businesses to compete in the national and global economy.’
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 5.
Amend the bill in section 6 in the first paragraph in the 7th line from the end (page 2, line 3 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: " an employee of the" the following: ' Office of Information Technology assigned to the'
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9301 in subsection 4 in paragraph B in the first line (page 3, line 5 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: " service" the following: ' that voluntarily chooses to be assessed by the initiative pursuant to section 9311'
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9301 in subsection 7 in the 3rd line (page 3, line 15 in L.D.) by striking out the following: " 25" and inserting the following: ' 10'
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9302 by striking out all of subsection 1 (page 3, lines 18 to 24 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9302 in subsection 2 in paragraph A in the last line (page 3, line 28 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: " State;" the following: ' and'
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9302 in subsection 2 by striking out all of paragraphs B and C (page 3, lines 29 to 37 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
‘ B. Support and facilitate the construction of advanced communications technology infrastructure and access to high-speed broadband service through financial and other incentives when partnerships and collaborations are not adequate to achieve the goal of providing high-speed broadband access and service to all areas and households, or when some areas of the State fall behind significantly in providing services equivalent to the variety and quality of services readily available elsewhere in the State.’
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9303 by striking out all of subsection 3 (page 4, lines 11 to 37 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
‘ 3. Maine Broadband Initiative director. The Governor shall, using a full and competitive search process, appoint a full-time Maine Broadband Initiative director, referred to in this section as "the director," who meets the qualifications in paragraph A. The appointee is subject to review by the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over public utilities and technology matters and to confirmation by the Legislature.
A. The director must have demonstrable experience in the management of organizations that maximize partnerships and collaborations to expand the availability and deployment of high-speed broadband to unserved areas of the State.
B. The director serves as the president of the board. The director shall manage the initiative's programs, services and employees and shall perform any other duties the board considers appropriate. The director shall report to the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development in the execution of the director's responsibilities.
4. Board of Directors of the Maine Broadband Initiative. The initiative is governed and all of its powers exercised by a board of directors established in Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 33-G. The board consists of 10 voting directors and 1 nonvoting director.
A. The Governor shall appoint 6 voting directors. In making appointments, the Governor shall give consideration to citizens of the State having knowledge of telecommunications technology, telecommunications regulatory law, transportation rights-of-way infrastructure, financing, federal funding or economic development. At least 4 of the appointees must come from areas of the State where high-speed broadband is not available.
B. The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, or the commissioner's designee, is an ex officio voting director.
C. The Chancellor of the University of Maine System, or the chancellor's designee, is an ex officio voting director.
D. The chair of the Public Utilities Commission, or the chair's designee, is an ex officio voting director.
E. The Public Advocate, or the Public Advocate's designee, is an ex officio voting director.
F. The director of the initiative described under subsection 3 is a nonvoting director and serves as president of the board.’
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9303 in subsection 4 in the first 2 lines (page 4, lines 38 and 39 in L.D.) by striking out the following: " , the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate"
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9303 by striking out all of subsection 9 (page 5, lines 16 to 19 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
‘ 9. Biennial report. By December 15th of every odd-numbered year, the initiative shall provide a report, with audited financial reports, on its activities to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over public utilities and technology matters.’
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9303 by renumbering the subsections to read consecutively.
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9304 in subsection 9 in the 4th line (page 6, line 26 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: " loans" the following: ' , contracts for services'
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9305 in subsection 1 in the 9th line (page 7, line 11 in L.D.) by striking out the following: " July" and inserting the following: ' September'
Amend the bill in section 9 in §9311 by inserting after subsection 4 the following:
‘ 5. Limitation; administrative costs. The initiative may not spend more than 10% of the funds received annually from the fund on administrative costs.’
Amend the bill in section 10 in §457 in paragraph E in the 2nd line (page 11, line 27 in L.D.) by striking out the following: " July" and inserting the following: ' September'
Amend the bill in section 11 in subsection 2 in the first 2 lines (page 11, lines 34 and 35 in L.D.) by striking out the following: ", Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate"
Amend the bill in section 11 by striking out all of subsection 3 (page 12, lines 1 to 11 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
‘3. Staggered terms. Notwithstanding Title 35-A, section 9303, subsection 4, in making the initial appointments of members to the Board of Directors of the Maine Broadband Initiative, the Governor shall appoint 2 members to serve an initial term of one year, 2 members to serve an initial term of 2 years and 2 members to serve an initial term of 3 years. Members appointed pursuant to this subsection may serve no more than 2 consecutive terms.’
Amend the bill in section 11 in subsection 4 in the first line (page 12, line 12 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "ConnectME Authority" and inserting the following: 'Office of Information Technology'
Amend the bill in section 11 in subsection 4 in the first line (page 12, line 12 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "Employees of the" the following: 'Office of Information Technology assigned to the'
Amend the bill by inserting after section 11 the following:
‘Sec. 12. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, DEPARTMENT OF
Office of Broadband Development Z245
Initiative: Provides funds for one Public Service Executive II position to serve as President of the Maine Broadband Initiative effective January 1, 2018.
| GENERAL FUND | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
|
POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT
|
1.000 | 1.000 |
|
Personal Services
|
$66,040 | $136,094 |
 |
|
|
| GENERAL FUND TOTAL | $66,040 | $136,094 |
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment makes the following changes to the bill:
1. It clarifies the process for the appointment and confirmation of the Maine Broadband Initiative director by requiring that the Governor appoint a person who has experience in the management of organizations that maximize partnerships and collaborations. The amendment also provides that the appointee is subject to review by the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over public utilities and technology matters rather than telecommunications and broadband matters and must be confirmed by the Legislature rather than the Board of Directors of the Maine Broadband Initiative;
2. It changes the definition of "unserved area" to mean an area within the State that has an actual broadband speed that is slower than 10 megabits per second, rather than 25 megabits as in the bill;
3. It removes a policy and goal of the Maine Broadband Initiative from the bill;
4. It changes the criteria that the Governor must consider when making an appointment to the Board of Directors of the Maine Broadband Initiative;
5. It removes the provision in the bill that allows appointment of directors of the Board of Directors of the Maine Broadband Initiative by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate;
6. It further changes the composition of the membership of the Board of Directors of the Maine Broadband Initiative;
7. It limits administrative costs of the Maine Broadband Initiative to no more than 10% of the annual funds received from the Maine Broadband Initiative Fund;
8. It changes the date from July 1st to September 1st as it relates to the crediting of the tax assessment by the State Tax Assessor to the Maine Broadband Initiative Fund; and
9. The amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations section.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)