Today's Law As Amended


Add To My Favorites | print page

AB-1391 San Joaquin Valley: Communications Leadership and Information Center.(2001-2002)



As Amends the Law Today


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)  Four members shall be appointed by the Governor.
(B)  One member shall be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(C)  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.