Amendment 1ss0006a-8

1ss0006a-8 1ss0006a-8

1.1Senator Westrom moved to amend S.F. No. 6 as follows:
1.2Page 1, line 20, after "2019-2020" insert "and 2020-2021"
1.3Page 1, line 21, delete "year" and insert "years"
1.4Page 2, line 3, after "2019-2020" insert "and 2020-2021" and delete "year" and insert
1.5"years"
1.6Page 4, after line 20, insert:

1.7    "Sec. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
1.8    Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have
1.9the meanings given.
1.10(b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of employment and economic development.
1.11(c) "Broadband infrastructure" has the meaning given in Minnesota Statutes, section
1.12116J.394.
1.13(d) "Unserved areas" has the meaning given in Minnesota Statutes, section 116J.394.
1.14(e) "Underserved areas" has the meaning given in Minnesota Statutes, section 116J.394.
1.15(f) "Last-mile infrastructure" has the meaning given in Minnesota Statutes, section
1.16116J.394.
1.17(g) "Middle-mile infrastructure" has the meaning given in Minnesota Statutes, section
1.18116J.394.
1.19    Subd. 2. Establishment. A supplemental broadband access grant program is established
1.20under the Department of Employment and Economic Development to provide new or
1.21expanded wireless or wire-line broadband access to unserved or underserved areas of the
1.22state where necessary for the peacetime public health emergency period that relates to the
1.23infectious disease known as COVID-19.
1.24    Subd. 3. Eligible expenditures. Grants may be awarded under this section to fund the
1.25acquisition and installation of middle-mile and last-mile infrastructure that support broadband
1.26service scalable to speeds of at least 100 megabits per second download and 100 megabits
1.27per second upload, in unserved areas of the state where increased broadband service is
1.28necessary for:
1.29(1) student access to distance learning during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school
1.30years;
2.1(2) providing expanded telemedicine services during the peacetime public health
2.2emergency period that relates to the infectious disease known as COVID-19;
2.3(3) businesses to remain open during the peacetime public health emergency period that
2.4relates to the infectious disease known as COVID-19; and
2.5(4) telecommuting during the peacetime public health emergency period that relates to
2.6the infectious disease known as COVID-19.
2.7    Subd. 4. Eligible applicants. Eligible applicants for grants awarded under this section
2.8include:
2.9(1) an incorporated business or a partnership;
2.10(2) a political subdivision;
2.11(3) an Indian tribe;
2.12(4) a Minnesota nonprofit organization organized under Minnesota Statutes, chapter
2.13317A; or
2.14(5) a Minnesota cooperative association organized under Minnesota Statutes, chapter
2.15308A or 308B.
2.16    Subd. 5. Application process. An eligible applicant must submit an application to the
2.17commissioner on a form prescribed by the commissioner with the initial request for
2.18applications published within 15 days of the enactment of this section. The commissioner
2.19shall consult with the office of broadband development to develop administrative procedures
2.20governing the application and grant award process that conforms with federal guidance for
2.21spending coronavirus relief federal funds. The commissioner shall act as fiscal agent for
2.22the grant program and shall be responsible for receiving and reviewing grant applications
2.23and awarding grants under this section.
2.24    Subd. 6. Application contents. An applicant for a grant under this section shall provide
2.25the following information on the application:
2.26(1) the location of the project;
2.27(2) the kind and amount of broadband infrastructure to be purchased for the project;
2.28(3) evidence regarding the unserved or underserved nature of the community in which
2.29the project is to be located;
2.30(4) the number of households passed that will have access to broadband service as a
2.31result of the project, or whose broadband service will be upgraded as a result of the project;
3.1(5) the total cost of the project;
3.2(6) sources of funding or in-kind contributions for the project that will supplement any
3.3grant award; and
3.4(7) any additional information requested by the commissioner.
3.5    Subd. 7. Challenge process. (a) Within three days of the close of the grant application
3.6process, the office shall publish on its website the proposed geographic broadband service
3.7area and the proposed broadband service speeds for each application submitted.
3.8(b) An existing broadband service provider in or proximate to the proposed project area
3.9may, within ten days of publication of the information under paragraph (a), submit in writing
3.10to the commissioner a challenge to an application. A challenge must contain information
3.11demonstrating that:
3.12(1) the provider currently provides or has begun construction to provide broadband
3.13service to the proposed project area at speeds equal to or greater than the state speed goal
3.14contained in Minnesota Statutes, section 237.012, subdivision 1; or
3.15(2) the provider commits to complete construction of broadband infrastructure and
3.16provide broadband service in the proposed project area at speeds equal to or greater than
3.17the state speed goal contained in Minnesota Statutes, section 237.012, subdivision 1, no
3.18later than 18 months after the date grant awards are made under this section for the grant
3.19cycle under which the application was submitted.
3.20(c) The commissioner must evaluate the information submitted in a provider's challenge
3.21under this section, and is prohibited from funding a project if the commissioner determines
3.22that the provider's commitment to provide broadband service that meets the requirements
3.23of paragraph (b) in the proposed project area is credible.
3.24(d) If the commissioner denies funding to an applicant as a result of a broadband service
3.25provider's challenge made under this section, and the broadband service provider does not
3.26fulfill the provider's commitment to provide broadband service in the project area, the
3.27commissioner is prohibited from denying funding to an applicant as a result of a challenge
3.28by the same broadband service provider for the following two grant cycles, unless the
3.29commissioner determines that the broadband service provider's failure to fulfill the provider's
3.30commitment was the result of factors beyond the broadband service provider's control.
3.31    Subd. 8. Awarding grants. (a) In evaluating applications and awarding grants, the
3.32commissioner shall give priority to applications that are constructed in areas identified by
3.33the director of the Office of Broadband Development as unserved.
4.1(b) In evaluating applications and awarding grants, the commissioner may give priority
4.2to applications that:
4.3(1) are constructed in areas identified by the director of the Office of Broadband
4.4Development as underserved;
4.5(2) facilitate the use of telemedicine and electronic health records;
4.6(3) serve economically distressed areas of the state, as measured by indices of
4.7unemployment, poverty, or population loss that are significantly greater than the statewide
4.8average; and
4.9(4) provide access to broadband service to a greater number of unserved or underserved
4.10households and businesses.
4.11(c) The commissioner shall endeavor to award grants under this section to qualified
4.12applicants in all regions of the state.
4.13    Subd. 9. Grant amount. (a) The commissioner must establish an amount for grants
4.14awarded under this section based on:
4.15(1) the number of applicants;
4.16(2) the total amount of money requested in the applications; and
4.17(3) the availability of federal money for a similar purpose.
4.18(b) No grants awarded under this section may fund more than 75 percent of the total
4.19cost of a project.
4.20(c) Grants awarded to a single project must not exceed $500,000.
4.21    Subd. 10. Reissue grant application. If the total grant requests based on the number of
4.22applications received under subdivision 4 are less than the amount of money available for
4.23this program, the commissioner may accept additional applications beyond the initial
4.24deadline, and award grants that may exceed the amount established in subdivision 9,
4.25paragraph (c).
4.26    Subd. 11. Grant agreement. Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, sections 16B.98,
4.27subdivisions 5 and 7, and 16C.05, subdivision 2, and any other provision of law, the
4.28commissioner may allow an applicant that was awarded a grant under this section to begin
4.29construction of a project and may encumber the amount of the grant before the commissioner
4.30has finalized a grant agreement.
4.31EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment."
5.1Page 4, line 28, delete "September 30" and insert "December 15"
5.2Page 4, line 29, delete "December 1, 2020" and insert "January 15, 2021"
5.3Page 5, line 8, delete "September 30" and insert "December 15"
5.4Page 5, line 9, delete "December 31, 2020" and insert "January 15, 2021"
5.5Page 5, line 18, delete "deposit in the" and insert "supplemental broadband development
5.6grants under section 3."
5.7Page 5, delete line 19
5.8Page 5, line 20, delete "30" and insert "15"
5.9Page 5, line 23, delete everything after the period, and insert "By January 31, 2021, the
5.10commissioner of employment and economic development must report to the legislature
5.11regarding the number of applications received under section 3, the number of grants awarded,
5.12the grant amounts, and the costs to administer the grant program."
5.13Page 5, delete lines 24 to 26
5.14Page 5, line 27, delete everything before "This"
5.15Page 5, line 33, after the period, insert "If the commissioner of management and budget
5.16determines at any date before December 15, 2020, that an amount less than the amount
5.17appropriated in paragraph (c) can be spent by December 15, 2020, the commissioner may
5.18cancel the balance of the appropriation that has been estimated will not be spent."
5.19Renumber the sections in sequence and correct the internal references
5.20Amend the title accordingly
5.21The motion prevailed. #did not prevail. So the amendment was #not adopted.