BILL NUMBER: AB 1391 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 19, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Cardoza, Cogdill, Cohn, Diaz,
Oropeza, and Reyes
FEBRUARY 23, 2001
An act to add Section 63051 to, and to add and repeal Article 3.8
(commencing with Section 15347) of Chapter 1 of Part 6.7 of Division
3 of Title 2 of, the Government Code, relating to telecommunications,
and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1391, as amended, Cardoza. San Joaquin Valley: Communications
Leadership and Information Center.
Under the Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development
Bank Act, the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank
is established within state government to make secured loans and
undertake related activities for the purpose of financing projects
that relate to infrastructure improvements.
This bill would require the Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency
to establish, until January 1, 2007, the Communications Leadership
and Information Center (CLIC) in the Technology, Trade, and Commerce
Agency for the purposes of promoting the expansion of the
telecommunications infrastructure in the San Joaquin Valley,
facilitating the creation of a technology leadership team in the 8
counties within the San Joaquin Valley, acting as a liaison on
communications infrastructure matters with state and local entities,
championing private sector telecommunications investments in the San
Joaquin Valley, and overseeing a grant and loan program for public
investments in the telecommunications infrastructure of the San
Joaquin Valley.
This bill would require the Secretary of the Technology, Trade,
and Commerce Agency to oversee the CLIC and would require the CLIC to
be administered by a 15-member board of directors to be appointed or
selected, as specified. The bill would prescribe the duties and
responsibilities of the board of directors with respect to
communications infrastructure and related economic development.
This bill would establish the San Joaquin Valley Communications
Leadership and Information Center Grant and Loan Program as a 5-year
program. The bill would declare the Legislature's intent that the
program provide $22,250,000 in grants to eligible entities, as
described, including small cities and rural communities, and
$100,000,000 in loans to eligible entities, as described, including
large cities. The grant portion of the program would include a local
match component.
This bill would establish the Communications Leadership and
Information Center Account as an account within the California
Infrastructure Bank Fund. The bill would authorize the sale of a
sufficient amount of revenue bonds to generate $100,000,000 of bond
proceeds. The bond proceeds would be deposited into the account and
would be used for the purposes of funding the loan portion of the
program established by these provisions. The bill would require the
Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank to administer the
financial aspects of the loan program in accordance with this bill.
This bill would appropriate $5,450,000 from the General Fund for
the 2001-02 fiscal year to the Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency
for allocation to CLIC to fund the grants authorized by these
provisions and the operational expenses of CLIC. The bill would also
declare the Legislature's intent to appropriate $5,450,000 for these
purposes for each of the next 4 fiscal years. Up to $1,000,000 of
the money appropriated in any fiscal year would be made available for
the operation of CLIC, including staffing, equipment and supplies,
travel and expenses, with the remaining funds to be used to fund
grants.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 3.8 (commencing with Section 15347) is added to
Chapter 1 of Part 6.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, to read:
Article 3.8. Communications and Leadership Information Center
15347. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) The San Joaquin Valley is a large and complex region that is
undergoing tremendous growth and change. These pressures are
compounded by geographic separation and daunting social and economic
forces.
(b) Current data indicate significant challenges must be overcome
if the area is to reduce unemployment and increase wages. The region'
s response to these challenges will determine the future of the San
Joaquin Valley, its economic sustainability, and the quality of life
for its residents. The San Joaquin Valley, in turn, will affect the
entire State of California, either as a positive contributor or as an
economic drain.
(c) The eight-county region that includes the Counties of Fresno,
Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare,
which has been historically dependent on the mono-culture of
agriculture, is increasingly recognizing the necessity for economic
diversification, the opportunities presented by the new economy, and
the enabling prospects that technology offers. The region is
beginning a process of long-term systemic change that goes to solving
long-existing issues.
(d) However, as our society becomes increasingly information-based
and knowledge-driven, opportunities for equal participation through
education, jobs, and community become skewed among socioeconomic and
geographically distributed groups. Enhancing the number and
diversity of those who have access to and are motivated to use the
new technology will help the region as a whole.
(e) The "digital divide" is particularly evident in the San
Joaquin Valley, where access to technology and computer use is
significantly lower than in the high tech centers of Los Angeles, the
San Francisco Bay area, and Sacramento.
(f) The project seeks to put in place the enabling infrastructure
that will support new and better paying jobs and close the digital
divide in the San Joaquin Valley.
(g) The project will increase the utilization of information and
advanced communications technologies across the diversity of the San
Joaquin Valley and focus on encouraging and facilitating the use of
and access to those technologies in all its communities.
(h) The grant and loan program will encourage and enable
communities to determine and implement their own course of technology
utilization, a course consistent with locally driven priorities and
requirements while coordinated with regional initiatives and a
nonduplicative and nonredundant structure.
(i) A new and more comprehensive process of regional collaboration
and information sharing based on a coordinated and cooperative
overall telecommunications strategy can be accomplished through the
establishment of a regional Communications Leadership and Information
Center (CLIC) and creating a CLIC Board of Directors for the
purposes of providing a long-term strategy, structure, and
coordination for telecommunications infrastructure with a focus on
regional communications technologies, policy, and applications.
15347.1. This article shall be known and may be cited as the San
Joaquin Valley Communications Leadership and Information Project.
15347.2. (a) The Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency shall
establish a Communications Leadership and Information Center (CLIC)
in accordance with this article.
(b) CLIC is created for the following purposes:
(1) To promote the expansion of the telecommunications
infrastructure in the San Joaquin Valley by acting as a clearinghouse
for technical information.
(2) To facilitate the creation of a technology leadership team in
the eight counties within the San Joaquin Valley that include the
Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin,
Stanislaus, and Tulare.
(3) To act as a liaison on communications infrastructure matters
with state and local entities.
(4) To champion private sector telecommunication investments in
the San Joaquin Valley.
(5) To oversee a grant and loan program for public investments in
the telecommunications infrastructure of the San Joaquin Valley,
including programs that bridge the digital divide, in order to expand
the availability of broadband services in furtherance of economic
development.
(c) The Secretary of the Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency
shall oversee CLIC.
15347.3. (a) CLIC shall be administered by a board of directors
comprised of the following 15 members:
(1) The Secretary of Technology, Trade, and Commerce.
(2) Fourteen members who shall be appointed as follows:
(A) Six Four members shall be
appointed by the Governor.
(B) Four members One member shall be
appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(C) Four members One member shall be
appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(D) One member each shall be appointed by the county board of
supervisors of the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced,
San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare in the San Joaquin Valley.
(b) The appointing authority shall seek recommendations for
nominations of potential members for the board of directors from
local governments, universities, economic development organizations,
nonprofit organizations, and businesses, including agriculture.
15347.4. The board of directors shall do all of the following:
(a) Set regional goals for communication infrastructure projects
and related economic development issues and activities.
(b) Design and administer a grant program focused on attracting
advanced communications services to the San Joaquin Valley.
(c) Assist in coordinating local and regional initiatives
pertaining to communications infrastructure and connectivity.
(d) Approve the allocation and dissemination of funds appropriated
or allocated to CLIC.
15347.5. CLIC shall do all of the following:
(a) Act as a clearinghouse for information related to
telecommunications infrastructure and advanced telecommunications
services and provide a library of technical information including
resources for identifying and applying for grants.
(b) Facilitate the creation of a technology leadership team in
each of the eight counties in the San Joaquin Valley with
responsibility for encouraging local implementation of local
initiatives that support their communications objectives and
strategies.
(c) Create a regional forum for public and private sector and
regional technology leaders providing opportunities to share best
practices and stay up to date on new technologies and policies.
(d) Assist local economic development corporations, workforce
training boards, and others charged with job creation.
(e) Act as liaison on communications infrastructure matters
between local entities and the state, as represented by the
Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency.
(f) Oversee the implementation and coordination of projects such
as those designed to make the San Joaquin Valley a world-recognized
center for research and development of communications technologies to
enhance the productivity of growers, processors, and distributors.
(g) Encourage and support mechanisms such as community technology
centers and computer recycling programs that make information
technologies, equipment, and the acquisition of related skills more
accessible to disadvantaged and low-income communities.
(h) Encourage and support technology training programs to build an
information literate workforce.
(i) Encourage community technology assessment efforts.
(j) Partner with appropriate agencies and organizations to develop
a distributed network of centers to assist local small business to
adopt electronic commerce.
15347.6. (a) There is hereby established the San Joaquin Valley
Communications Leadership and Information Center Grant and Loan
Program. It is the intent of the Legislature that the program shall
provide during its five-year duration an aggregate of twenty-two
million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($22,250,000) in grants to
eligible entities, including small cities and rural communities and
one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in loans to eligible
entities, including large cities.
(b) In addition to the amount of bonds authorized to be
outstanding at any one time pursuant to Section 63071 and
notwithstanding any other provision of law, the California
Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank may issue revenue bonds
in an amount sufficient to generate one hundred million dollars
($100,000,000) in bond proceeds for the purposes of funding the loan
portion of the program established in subdivision (a).
(c) From the money allocated in any fiscal year to CLIC pursuant
to subdivision (a), up to one million dollars ($1,000,000) shall be
made available to fund the operational expenses of CLIC, including
staffing, equipment and supplies, travel, and expenses and the
remaining allocated funds shall be used to fund grants for the
development of infrastructure and economic development projects and
community technology programs to address the digital divide.
15347.7. (a) For the purposes of the San Joaquin Valley
Communications Leadership and Information Center Grant and Loan
Program, the following entities shall be eligible for grants:
(1) Cities in the San Joaquin Valley with fewer than 60,000
residents.
(2) Counties serving unincorporated communities in the San Joaquin
Valley with fewer than 40,000 residents.
(3) Nonprofit organizations with telecommunications expertise
serving the San Joaquin Valley.
(4) Public educational institutions serving the San Joaquin
Valley.
(5) Closed military bases.
(b) Under the program, the following entities shall be eligible
for loans:
(1) Cities in the San Joaquin Valley with greater than 60,000
residents.
(2) Nonprofit organizations with telecommunications expertise
serving the San Joaquin Valley.
(3) Public educational institutions.
(4) Closed military bases.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, projects
with a public purpose and that are eligible for a grant under this
article shall provide at least 50 percent cash or in-kind local
contributions as matching funds. However, projects in low-income
areas, as determined by the board of directors of CLIC, shall be
subject to a reduced local matching requirement and shall be required
to provide at least 10 percent cash or in-kind local contributions
as its share of matching funds.
(d) Grants shall be awarded and loans shall be made based on both
the actual and potential size and demonstrated need of the community
or organization as well as leadership and implementation capacity,
community support, and collaborative efforts.
15347.8. This article shall remain in effect only until January
1, 2007, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2007, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. Section 63051 is added to the Government Code, to read:
63051. (a) There is hereby established as an account within the
California Infrastructure Bank Fund, the Communications Leadership
and Information Center Account. Proceeds from the sale of revenue
bonds authorized by subdivision (b) of Section 15347.5 shall be
deposited into this account and may be used for the purposes of
funding loans authorized and issued pursuant to Article 3.8
(commencing with Section 15347) of Chapter 1 of Part 6.7 of Division
3 of Title 2.
(b) The Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank shall
administer the financial aspects of the loan portion of the San
Joaquin Valley Communications Leadership and Information Center Grant
and Loan Program as established and described in Sections 15347.5
and 15347.6.
SEC. 3. (a) The sum of five million four hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($5,450,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund for
the 2001-02 fiscal year to the Technology, Trade, and Commerce
Agency for allocation to the Communications Leadership and
Information Center established pursuant to Section 15347.2 of the
Government Code.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to also appropriate the
sum of five million four hundred fifty thousand dollars ($5,450,000)
for allocation to the center in each of the fiscal years from 2002-03
to 2005-06, inclusive.