HOUSE BILL NO. 4288
February 28, 2019, Introduced by Rep. Hoitenga
and referred to the Committee on Communications and Technology.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Michigan broadband expansion act".
(a) "Applicant" means an internet service provider that submits an application for a grant after having collaborated with other persons and the community within the unserved area.
(b) "Broadband service" means a retail terrestrial service capable of delivering high-speed internet access at speeds of at least 10 megabits per second downstream and 1 megabit per second upstream.
(c) "Census block" means a geographic area defined as a census block by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census in conducting the 2010 decennial census.
(d) "Department" means the department of technology, management, and budget.
(e) "Internet service provider" means any of the following:
(i) An entity holding a license under the Michigan telecommunications act, 1991 PA 179, MCL 484.2101 to 484.2603.
(ii) An entity holding a franchise under the uniform video services local franchise act, 2006 PA 480, MCL 484.3301 to 484.3315.
(iii) An entity currently providing broadband service in this state.
(f) "Person" includes an individual, community organization, cooperative association, corporation, federally recognized Indian tribe, limited liability company, nonprofit corporation, partnership, or political subdivision of this state.
(g) "Unserved area" means either a census block without at least 1 provider providing broadband service within the census block, or a delineated area within a census block without at least 1 provider providing broadband service as established as part of the application approval process set forth in section 8.
Sec. 3. The department shall establish and implement a statewide broadband grant program. Money for the program shall be provided by appropriation as provided by law and managed by the department.
Sec. 4. (1) Appropriated funds for the grant program shall only be used by the department to award applicants for projects that exclusively extend broadband service into unserved areas in this state and for the department's costs to administer the program.
(2) Grant funds shall not be directly or indirectly awarded to a governmental entity or educational institution or an affiliate, to own, purchase, construct, operate, or maintain a communications network, or to provide service to any residential or commercial premises.
(3) An award of grant funds by the department may not, as a condition of the award, impose an open network architecture requirement, rate regulation, or other term or condition of service that differs from the applicant's terms or conditions of service in its other service areas.
(4) As a condition of an award, an applicant shall not obtain financing from any other government grants, loans, or subsidies that is offered to support deployment of broadband service in the same unserved areas. The department shall not award more than $5,000,000.00 to any 1 project.
Sec. 5. (1) An award of funds must be issued by a competitive grant process. The grant process shall be technology neutral, and shall result in awards to applicants proposing projects based on objective and efficient procedures. The criteria for determining the award of funds shall include the following:
(a) The applicant's experience and financial wherewithal.
(b) The readiness to build, operate, and maintain the project.
(c) The long-term viability of the project.
(d) The scalability of the network.
(e) The applicant's ability to demonstrate the community's ability to leverage broadband for community and economic development, such as rural development, tourism, new investment, or business attraction or retention.
(2) Priority shall be given to projects that demonstrate collaboration to achieve community investment and economic development goals of the area impacted, and that are able to demonstrate that they have the managerial, financial, and technical ability to build, operate, and manage a broadband network.
Sec. 6. Within 60 days after the effective date of this act and after notice and opportunity to comment, the department shall establish and publish on its website its criteria for competitively scoring applications.
Sec. 7. (1) An applicant for a grant under this act shall provide the following information on the application:
(a) The location of the project by census block or a request to delineate an area within a census block as being unserved pursuant to section 8.
(b) The kind and amount of broadband infrastructure to be purchased for the project.
(c) Evidence regarding the unserved nature of the community in which the project is to be located.
(d) The number of households that will have access to broadband service as a result of the project, or whose internet access service will be upgraded to broadband service as a result of the project.
(e) The significant community institutions that will benefit from the proposed project.
(f) Evidence of community support for the project with a narrative on the impact that the investment will have on community and economic development efforts in the area.
(g) The total cost of the project and a detailed budget and schedule for the project.
(h) All sources of funding or in-kind contributions for the project in addition to any grant award.
(i) The internet service provider's experience and financial wherewithal.
(2) After scoring and considering all grant applications, the department shall make grant award recommendations. Within 30 days after the award recommendations have been made, the department shall publish on its website the grant applications, redacted according to section 14 of the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.244, the proposed geographic broadband service area by census block or the areas within a census block if approved pursuant to section 8, and the proposed broadband service speeds for each application that receives an award recommendation.
(3) Before granting an award to an applicant, the department shall establish a period of at least 60 days from the date the award recommendations are published on the department's website, during which time the department shall accept comments or objections concerning each application. The department shall consider all comments or objections received, and investigate them as needed, in deciding whether an applicant is eligible for a grant. If an objection submitted by a provider contains information that requires an investigation and the objection is found to be inaccurate, the provider shall reimburse the department for the cost of verifying the information.
(4) The department shall not award a grant to an applicant if verifiable information is made available that shows any of the following:
(a) The proposed project includes an area that is already being served by at least 1 provider offering broadband service.
(b) The proposed project includes an area where construction of a network to provide broadband service is underway, and the construction is scheduled to be completed within 1 year after the date of the application.
(c) The proposed project includes an area where the construction of a network to provide broadband service is to be completed no later than 3 years after the date of an application.
(d) The project includes an area that has been selected to receive, provisionally or otherwise, Connect America funds from the Federal Communications Commission. If an award recommendation is rejected because of an objection pertaining to subdivision (c), the internet service provider installing the broadband service in lieu of the improper recipient shall provide notice to the department when the construction of the broadband service is completed. If no notice is received, or if the completion date is later than the 3 years allowed for in this section, the internet service provider shall reimburse the department for the cost of verifying the status of the provider's construction.
Sec. 8. As part of an application, the applicant may request that the department specifically delineate an area within a census block as being an unserved area. To tentatively establish an unserved area within a census block, an applicant must attest to all of the following:
(a) The delineated area within the census block is unserved and does not have access to broadband service.
(b) To the best of the applicant's knowledge, no other internet service provider has plans to provide broadband service within the delineated area within 3 years after the date of application.
(c) The delineated area is not within a census block that has been selected to receive, provisionally or otherwise, Connect America funds from the Federal Communications Commission. If a delineated area within a census block is tentatively determined by the department to be an unserved area, the recommended grant award for the application remains subject to a challenge by internet service providers under section 7(4).
Sec. 9. At the time an award is given to an applicant, the department shall immediately provide notice on its website of each application receiving funds, including the name of the entity, the amount of funds being received, the broadband speed, and the unserved area indicated by census blocks or the delineated area within a census block as established under section 8 for which the applicant is receiving the funds.
Sec. 10. The department shall require an applicant awarded funds to submit a semiannual report from the time the applicant receives the funds to 5 years after completion of the project. The semiannual reports shall be made available on the department's website with any proprietary information redacted. The reports shall be in a format specified by the department and shall give an accounting by the applicant of the use of the funds received and the progress toward fulfilling the objectives for which the funds were granted, including all of the following:
(a) The number and location of residences and businesses that will receive the broadband service.
(b) The speed of broadband service.
(c) The average price of broadband service.
(d) The broadband service adoption rates within each census block or the delineated area within a census block as established by section 8.