February 17, 2005, Introduced by Senators VAN WOERKOM, GILBERT, BIRKHOLZ, GOSCHKA, ALLEN, STAMAS, BROWN, JELINEK and BARCIA and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism.
A bill to amend 2002 PA 49, entitled
"Michigan broadband development authority act,"
by amending section 7 (MCL 484.3207), as amended by 2003 PA 265.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 7. (1) The powers of the authority shall include all
those necessary to carry out and effectuate the purposes of this
act, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(a) To borrow money and issue bonds and notes to fund
operations of the authority, to finance or refinance part or all of
the development costs of the broadband infrastructure, to refinance
existing debt for technology that constitutes a part of or is
related to the broadband infrastructure, and to secure bonds and
notes by mortgage, assignment, or pledge of any of its revenues and
assets.
(b) To invest any money of the authority at the authority's
discretion, in any obligations determined proper by the authority,
and name and use depositories for its money.
(c) To enter into joint venture and partnership arrangements
subject to subsections (2) and (3) with persons that will acquire,
construct, develop, maintain, and operate all or portions of the
broadband infrastructure.
(d) To be designated the state program manager for federal
telecommunications assistance, to represent this state in
negotiations with the federal government regarding
telecommunications assistance, and to receive and distribute
federal funding, including loans, grants, and other forms of
funding and assistance on this state's behalf.
(e) To receive and distribute state or local funding including
grants, loans, general appropriations, or an appropriation made for
the purposes under subsection (4).
(f) To make loans and to enter into any joint venture and
partnership arrangements subject to subsections (2) and (3) with
broadband developers and broadband operators that will acquire,
construct, maintain, and operate all or portions of the broadband
infrastructure.
(g) To provide operating assistance to make broadband services
more affordable to broadband developers, broadband operators, and
broadband customers, in conjunction with broadband infrastructure
financed by the authority.
(h) To impose and collect charges, fees, or rentals for the
services furnished by those portions of the broadband
infrastructure financed by the authority under this act.
(i) To set construction, operation, and financing standards
for the broadband infrastructure in connection with authority
financing and to provide for inspections to determine compliance
with those standards.
(j) To acquire from any person interests in real or personal
property necessary for the operation of the authority.
(k) To procure insurance against any loss in connection with
the broadband infrastructure and any other property, assets, or
activities of the authority.
(l) To sue and be sued, to have a seal, and to make, execute,
and deliver contracts, conveyances, and other instruments necessary
to the exercise of the authority's powers.
(m) To enforce financial, operational, warranty, security,
lease, and guaranty terms and conditions established under
financings by the authority. The authority may under this
subsection acquire, construct, develop, lease, create, and maintain
all or portions of the broadband infrastructure and acquire from
any person interests in real and personal property.
(n) To make and amend bylaws.
(o) To indemnify and procure insurance indemnifying any
members of the board of the authority from personal liability by
reason of their service as a board member.
(p) To investigate, evaluate, and assess the current broadband
infrastructure and the future broadband infrastructure needs of
this state and to encourage and participate in aggregation
strategies for the broadband services of all public entities and
nonprofit corporations in this state to maximize the
interconnectivity and efficiencies of the broadband infrastructure.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the
authority shall not make loans to, or enter into any joint venture
and partnership arrangements or participation with, any
governmental entity or nonprofit organization except in connection
with the financing or refinancing of development costs for that
allocable portion of the broadband infrastructure used or to be
used exclusively by governmental entities or nonprofit
organizations, including, but not limited to, universities,
colleges, hospitals, school districts, public safety agencies,
judicial organizations, libraries, cities, townships, and counties.
No allocable portion of the broadband infrastructure financed by a
loan to a governmental entity or a nonprofit organization shall be
used to serve residential, business, or other commercial customers.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, except in
connection with financing or refinancing under subsection (2) or
enforcement procedures authorized under subsection (1)(m), the
authority shall acquire real or personal property constituting
portions of the broadband infrastructure only in connection with
the participation of persons other than governmental entities or
nonprofit organizations through joint ventures and partnership
arrangements, or other co-ownership arrangements and only if the
participation is necessary to assure availability of financing or
refinancing derived from the issuance by the authority of bonds or
notes, the interest on which is exempt from taxation under the
United States internal revenue code, and the financing derived from
the tax-exempt bonds or notes is allocated only to those
development costs relating to that portion of the broadband
infrastructure that is to be used by governmental bodies or
nonprofit organizations.
(4) The authority shall establish a seed capital loan program
to make capital loans to persons planning to apply to the authority
for financing of broadband infrastructure. Priority for the seed
capital loan program shall be given for developments targeted to
underserved
areas. During the initial 2 years of operations, the
The
authority shall annually designate
a minimum of $500,000.00
$1,000,000.00 to be targeted to rural underserved areas and a
minimum of $500,000.00 targeted to urban underserved areas.
Community economic development programs and small providers shall
be given a preference to receive loans under this subsection. The
terms and conditions for the seed capital loans shall be
established by the authority. As used in this act, "underserved
areas" means geographical areas of this state identified by the
authority as having the greatest need for broadband development. In
identifying underserved areas, the authority shall consider the
area's economic conditions, including, but not limited to, family
income, affordability of access, lack of options available, low
percentage of residents subscribing, and any other criteria
considered important by the authority in determining whether an
area is underserved.
(5) As part of an application for financing under this act,
the broadband developer and broadband operator shall file with the
authority a participation plan for small and minority owned
businesses and a communitywide outreach plan to educate the public
of the availability of broadband services. The authority shall not
approve an application unless a plan is submitted under this
subsection.
(6) Priority shall be given to the application of any
broadband developer who applies to develop broadband capability
within a recovery zone as that term is defined in section 8d of the
Michigan renaissance zone act, 1996 PA 376, MCL 125.2688d.