Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

House File 796 - Introduced
                                  HOUSE FILE 796
                                  BY COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION
                                      TECHNOLOGY
                                  (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 133)
                            A BILL FOR
An Act relating to broadband service, including matters under
  the purview of the office of the chief information officer,
  the empower rural Iowa broadband grant fund, and including
  effective date and applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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    Section 1. Section 8B.1, subsections 5, 13, and 14, Code
 2021, are amended to read as follows:
    5. “Facilitate” means a communication service provider’s
 ability to provide broadband service at or above the download
 and upload speeds specified in the definition of targeted
 service area in this section or section 8B.11, subsection
 5, paragraph “a”, if applicable, to a home, farm, school,
 or business within a commercially reasonable time and at a
 commercially reasonable price upon request by a consumer.
    13. “Targeted service area” means any of the following:
    a. A United States census bureau census block located in
 this state, including any crop operation located within the
 census block, or other geographic unit the office sets by
 rule, within which no communications service provider offers
 or facilitates broadband service at or above the tier 1, tier
 2, or tier 3 download and upload speeds identified by the
 federal communications commission pursuant to section 706 of
 the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, as amended. As
 used in this subsection:
    (1) “Tier 1” means a maximum download speed of less than
 twenty-five megabits per second and a maximum upload speed of
 less than three megabits per second.
    (2) “Tier 2” means a minimum download speed of greater than
 or equal to twenty-five megabits per second but less than fifty
 megabits per second.
    (3) “Tier 3” means a minimum download speed of greater than
 or equal to fifty megabits per second but less than eighty
 megabits per second.
    b. Any geographic area, as the office sets by rule, that
 is materially underserved by broadband service such that
 the download and upload speeds identified by the federal
 communications commission pursuant to section 706 of the
 federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, as amended, of the
 broadband service in the geographic area tier 1, tier 2,
 and tier 3 download and upload speeds are not meaningfully
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 available. The office’s power to determine the geographic
 area by rule under this paragraph includes the power to define
 and interpret standards as to whether a geographic area is
 materially underserved and broadband service is meaningfully
 available.
    14. “Underserved area” means any portion of a targeted
 service area within which no communications service provider
 facilitates broadband service meeting the tier 1 download and
 upload speeds specified in the definition of targeted service
 area in this section.
    Sec. 2. Section 8B.10, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
 to read as follows:
    1. The determination of whether a communications service
 provider facilitates broadband service meeting the tier
 1, tier 2, or tier 3 download and upload speeds specified
 in the definition of targeted service area in section 8B.1
 shall be determined or ascertained by reference to broadband
 availability maps or data sources that are identified by
 the office by rule. The office shall periodically make
 renewed determinations of whether a communications service
 provider facilitates broadband service at or above the tier
 1, tier 2, or tier 3 download and upload speeds specified
 in the definition of targeted service area in section 8B.1,
 which shall, to the extent updated maps and data sources are
 available at the time, include making such determinations prior
 to each round of grant applications solicited by the office
 pursuant to section 8B.11. The office is not required to make
 renewed determinations of whether a communications service
 provider facilitates broadband service at or above the tier
 1, tier 2, or tier 3 download and upload speeds specified in
 the definition of targeted service area in section 8B.1 more
 frequently than once in any calendar year.
    Sec. 3. Section 8B.11, Code 2021, is amended to read as
 follows:
    8B.11 Empower rural Iowa —— broadband grants —— fund.
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    1. The office shall administer a broadband grant program
 designed to reduce or eliminate unserved and underserved
 areas in the state, leveraging federal funds and public and
 private partnerships where possible, by awarding grants to
 communications service providers that reduce or eliminate
 targeted service areas by installing broadband infrastructure
 that facilitates broadband service in targeted service areas at
 or above the download and upload speeds specified in subsection
 5, in accordance with this section in accordance with the
 following:
    a. The broadband infrastructure facilitates broadband
 service that provides a minimum download speed of one hundred
 megabits per second and a minimum upload speed of one hundred
 megabits per second in a targeted service area within which no
 communications service provider offers or facilitates broadband
 service that provides download and upload speeds less than or
 equal to the tier 1 download and upload speeds specified in the
 definition of targeted service area in section 8B.1.
    b. The broadband infrastructure facilitates broadband
 service that provides a minimum download speed of one hundred
 megabits per second and a minimum upload speed of one hundred
 megabits per second in a targeted service area within which no
 communications service provider offers or facilitates broadband
 service that provides any of the following:
    (1) Download speeds less than or equal to the tier 2
 download speed specified in the definition of targeted service
 area in section 8B.1.
    (2) Download speeds less than or equal to the tier 3
 download speed specified in the definition of targeted service
 area in section 8B.1.
    2. a. An empower rural Iowa broadband grant fund is
 established in the state treasury under the authority of the
 office. The fund shall consist of moneys available to and
 obtained or accepted by the office. Moneys in the fund are
 appropriated to the office to be used for the grant program,
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 including for broadband mapping and the administration and
 operation of the grant program.
    b. The office shall use moneys in the fund to provide grants
 to communications service providers pursuant to this section.
 The office may use not more than one two and one-half percent
 of the moneys in the fund at the beginning of the fiscal year to
 pay the costs and expenses associated with the administration
 and operation of the grant program. The office shall use
 moneys in the fund to leverage available federal moneys if
 possible.
    c. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys in the fund
 that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of the
 fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available for
 expenditure for the purposes designated until three years
 following the last day of the fiscal year in which the funds
 were originally appropriated.
    d. Notwithstanding paragraph “c” or any provision to the
 contrary, moneys in the fund that have been awarded but not
 paid to a communications service provider shall not revert
 but shall remain available to the office for purposes of
 administering the award in a manner consistent with the terms
 and conditions of any corresponding contract or grant agreement
 governing the administration of the award.
    3. Communications service providers may apply to the office
 for a grant pursuant to this section for the installation of
 broadband infrastructure that facilitates broadband service
 in targeted service areas at or above the download and upload
 speeds specified in subsection 5. The office shall include
 representatives from schools, communities, agriculture,
 industry, and other areas as appropriate to review and
 recommend grant awards. The office shall conduct an open
 application review process that includes the opportunity
 for the public to submit factual information as part of a
 validation process to address claims that a targeted service
 area is currently served with broadband service at or above the
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 download and upload speeds specified in subsection 5. Upon
 completion of the validation process, the office may modify
 a proposed targeted service area to account for information
 received during the validation process. The office shall make
 available a public internet site identifying all publicly
 available information contained in the applications, the
 members of the review committee, a summary of the review
 committee’s recommended results, and any results of performance
 testing conducted after the project is completed. The office
 shall devote one full-time equivalent position to evaluate
 applications submitted under this section and provide technical
 assistance to communications service providers in completing
 applications for federal funds, or any other funds from any
 public or private sources, related to improving broadband
 infrastructure.
    4. a. The office shall award grants on a competitive
 basis for the installation of broadband infrastructure that
 facilitates broadband service as provided in subsection 3 in
 targeted service areas at or above the download and upload
 speeds specified in subsection 5, after considering the
 following:
    (1) The relative need for broadband infrastructure in the
 area and the existing broadband service speeds, including
 whether the project serves a rural area or areas.
    (2) The applicant’s total proposed budget for the project,
 including all of the following:
    (a) The amount or percentage of local or federal matching
 funds, if any, and any funding obligations shared between
 public and private entities.
    (b) The percentage of funding provided directly from the
 applicant, including whether the applicant requested from the
 office an amount less than the maximum amount the office could
 award pursuant to subsection 5 and, if so, the percentage of
 the project cost that the applicant is requesting.
    (3) The relative download and upload speeds of proposed
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 projects for all applicants.
    (4) The specific product attributes resulting from the
 proposed project, including technologies that provide higher
 qualities of service, such as service levels, latency, and
 other service attributes as determined by the office.
    (5) The percentage of the homes, farms, schools, and
 businesses in the targeted service area that will be provided
 access to broadband service.
    (6) The geographic diversity of the project areas of all the
 applicants.
    (7) The economic impact of the project to the area.
    (6) The proportion of proposed projects that will result
 in the installation of broadband infrastructure in a targeted
 service area within which the only broadband service available
 provides the tier 1 download and upload speeds specified in the
 definition of targeted service area in section 8B.1.
    (8) (7) Other factors the office deems relevant.
    b. In considering the factors listed in paragraph “a”
 for awarding grants pursuant to this section, the office
 shall afford the greatest weight to the factors described in
 paragraph “a”, subparagraphs (1) through (3), and subparagraph
 (6).
    c. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the office
 shall not evaluate applications based on the office’s knowledge
 of the applicant except for information obtained by the office
 during the application process or period for public comment.
    5. The office shall not award a grant pursuant to this
 section that exceeds thirty-five percent of the communications
 service provider’s project cost. The total amount of the
 grants the office awards from the empower rural Iowa broadband
 grant fund pursuant to this section shall be as follows not
 exceed any of the following amounts:
    a. For Seventy-five percent of a communications service
 provider’s project costs for projects that will result in the
 installation of broadband infrastructure that will facilitate
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 broadband service providing a minimum download speed less than
 one hundred megabits per second but greater than or equal to
 the download speed specified in the definition of targeted
 service area in section 8B.1, and a minimum upload speed less
 than twenty megabits per second but greater than or equal
 to the upload speed specified in the definition of targeted
 service area in section 8B.1, the total amount of the grants
 the office awards shall not exceed fifty percent of the moneys
 in the fund at the beginning of the fiscal year. However, if
 the amount requested for projects that facilitate broadband
 service at the speeds described in paragraph “b” for the fiscal
 year is less than the amount reserved for projects under
 paragraph “b”, the office may award the difference to projects
 under this paragraph for the same fiscal year in a targeted
 service area within which no communications service provider
 offers or facilitates broadband service that provides download
 and upload speeds less than or equal to the tier 1 download and
 upload speeds specified in the definition of targeted service
 area in section 8B.1.
    b. For Fifty percent of a communications service provider’s
 project costs for projects that will result in the installation
 of broadband infrastructure that will facilitate broadband
 service providing a minimum download speed of one hundred
 megabits per second and a minimum upload speed of twenty
 megabits per second, the total amount of the grants the office
 awards shall not exceed fifty percent of the moneys in the fund
 at the beginning of the fiscal year. However, if the amount
 requested for projects that facilitate broadband service at
 the speeds described in paragraph “a” for the fiscal year is
 less than the amount reserved for projects under paragraph
 “a”, the office may award the difference to projects under
 this paragraph for the same fiscal year in a targeted service
 area within which no communications service provider offers or
 facilitates broadband service that provides download and upload
 speeds less than or equal to the tier 2 download and upload
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 speeds specified in the definition of targeted service area in
 section 8B.1.
    c. Thirty-five percent of a communications service
 provider’s project costs for projects that will result in the
 installation of broadband infrastructure in a targeted service
 area within which no communications service provider offers or
 facilitates broadband service that provides download speeds
 less than or equal to the tier 3 download speed specified in
 the definition of targeted service area in section 8B.1.
    6. Notwithstanding subsections 3 and 5, communications
 service providers may apply to the office for a grant
 pursuant to this section for the installation of broadband
 infrastructure that facilitates broadband service providing a
 minimum download speed of one hundred megabits per second and a
 minimum upload speed of twenty megabits per second in targeted
 service areas pursuant to this subsection. The office shall
 make available a public internet site identifying all publicly
 available information contained in the applications and any
 results of performance testing conducted after the project is
 completed.
    a. The off