HOUSE BILL NO. 2886 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE RIGGS.
5523H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal sections 620.2450, 620.2451, 620.2454, and 620.2459, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to the broadband grant program.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 620.2450, 620.2451, 620.2454, and 620.2459, RSMo, are 2 repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 620.2450, 3 620.2451, 620.2454, and 620.2459, to read as follows: 620.2450. 1. A grant program is hereby established under sections 620.2450 to 2 620.2458 to award grants to applicants who seek to expand access to and improve the 3 reliability of broadband internet service in unserved and underserved areas of the state. The 4 department of economic development shall administer and act as the fiscal agent for the grant 5 program and shall be responsible for receiving and reviewing grant applications and awarding 6 grants under sections 620.2450 to 620.2458. Funding for the grant program established under 7 this section shall be subject to appropriation by the general assembly. 8 2. As used in sections 620.2450 to 620.2458, the following terms shall mean: 9 (1) "Project", the acquisition and installation of retail broadband internet service in 10 unserved and underserved areas of the state; 11 (2) "Underserved area", a project area without access to wireline [or fixed wireless] 12 broadband internet service of speeds of at least [one hundred] seven hundred fifty megabits 13 per-second download and [twenty] seven hundred fifty megabits per-second upload; 14 (3) "Unserved area", a project area without access to wireline [or fixed wireless] 15 broadband internet service of speeds of at least [twenty-five] five hundred megabits per- 16 second download and [three] five hundred megabits per-second upload.
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 2886 2
17 3. For the purposes of sections 620.2450 to 620.2458, access to low-Earth-orbit 18 satellites, fixed wireless, or cable shall not be considered access to broadband internet 19 service. 620.2451. 1. Grants awarded under sections 620.2450 to 620.2458 shall fund the 2 acquisition and installation of retail broadband internet service, prioritizing projects providing 3 speeds of at least the higher of: 4 (1) [One] Five hundred megabits per-second download and [one] five hundred 5 megabits per-second upload that is scalable to higher speeds; or 6 (2) The minimum acceptable speed established by the Federal Communications 7 Commission as authorized in 7 U.S.C. Section 950bb(e)(1) to (2). Any provider that is 8 incapable of meeting the speed requirement under this subdivision shall be allowed to 9 continue deploying broadband infrastructure at current speeds, provided that each provider 10 quarterly updates the office of broadband development regarding the provider's maximum 11 speed. 12 2. The department shall maintain a record of all federal grants awarded to entities for 13 the purposes of providing, maintaining, and expanding rural broadband in the state of 14 Missouri. In cases in which funds have been awarded by a federal agency but later retained, 15 withheld, or otherwise not distributed to the original grant recipient due to failure to meet 16 performance standards or other criteria, the department shall seek to have the funds awarded 17 to another eligible, qualified Missouri broadband provider. 18 3. The funds awarded by the department to an entity for the purposes of providing, 19 maintaining, and expanding rural broadband in the state of Missouri shall require the entity to 20 use the funds specifically for purposes set forth in the grant. If the entity uses the proceeds or 21 funds for any other purposes or fails to comply with any requirement established by the 22 department through the grant or funds awarded pursuant thereto, the entity shall return any 23 remaining proceeds expended or the value of any incentives or services received by the entity 24 to which a monetary value can be assigned, to be repaid to the department as required by the 25 terms of the grant or contract. 26 4. Any entity that was the second place finisher in any previous federal 27 broadband funds application shall have the right of first refusal to accept defaulted 28 funds recovered by the state at the rate previously applied for. 620.2454. 1. At least thirty days prior to the first day applications may be submitted 2 each fiscal year, the department of economic development shall publish on its website the 3 specific criteria and any quantitative weighting scheme or scoring system the department will 4 use to evaluate or rank applications and award grants under section 620.2455. Such criteria 5 and quantitative scoring system shall include the criteria set forth in section 620.2455. HB 2886 3
6 2. Within three business days of the close of the grant application process, the 7department of economic development shall publish on its website the proposed unserved and 8underserved areas, and the proposed broadband internet speeds for each application 9submitted. Upon request, the department shall provide a copy of any application to an 10interested party. 11 3. A broadband internet service provider that provides existing service in or adjacent 12to the proposed project area may submit to the department of economic development, within 13forty-five days of publication of the information under subsection 2 of this section, a written 14challenge to an application. Such challenge shall contain information demonstrating that: 15 (1) The provider currently provides broadband internet service to retail customers 16within the proposed unserved or underserved area; 17 (2) The provider has begun construction to provide broadband internet service to 18retail customers within the proposed unserved or underserved area; or 19 (3) The provider commits to providing broadband internet service to retail customers 20within the proposed unserved or underserved areas within the timeframe proposed by the 21applicant. 22 4. Within three business days of the submission of a written challenge, the department 23of economic development shall notify the applicant of such challenge. 24 5. The department of economic development shall evaluate each challenge submitted 25under this section. If the department determines that the provider currently provides, has 26begun construction to provide, or commits to provide broadband internet service at speeds of 27at least [twenty-five] five hundred megabits per-second download and [three] five hundred 28megabits per-second upload, but scalable to higher speeds, in the proposed project area, the 29department shall not fund the challenged project. 30 6. If the department of economic development denies funding to an applicant as a 31result of a broadband internet service provider challenge under this section and such 32broadband internet service provider does not fulfill its commitment to provide broadband 33internet service in the unserved or underserved area, the department of economic 34development shall not consider another challenge from such broadband internet service 35provider for the next two grant cycles, unless the department determines the failure to fulfill 36the commitment was due to circumstances beyond the broadband internet service provider's 37control. 620.2459. Pursuant to section 23.253 of the Missouri sunset act: 2 (1) The provisions of the program authorized under sections 620.2450, 620.2451, 3 620.2452, 620.2453, 620.2454, 620.2455, 620.2456, 620.2457, and 620.2458 shall sunset on 4 June 30, [2027, unless reauthorized by an act of the general assembly] 2030; and HB 2886 4
5 (2) [If such program is reauthorized, the program authorized under sections 620.2450, 6 620.2451, 620.2452, 620.2453, 620.2454, 620.2455, 620.2456, 620.2457, and 620.2458 shall 7 sunset automatically six years after the effective date of the reauthorization of sections 8 620.2450, 620.2451, 620.2452, 620.2453, 620.2454, 620.2455, 620.2456, 620.2457, and 9 620.2458; and 10 (3)] Sections 620.2450, 620.2451, 620.2452, 620.2453, 620.2454, 620.2455, 11 620.2456, 620.2457, and 620.2458 shall terminate on September first of the calendar year 12 immediately following the calendar year in which the program authorized under sections 13 620.2450, 620.2451, 620.2452, 620.2453, 620.2454, 620.2455, 620.2456, 620.2457, and 14 620.2458 is sunset. ✔
Statutes affected: