House Bill 662

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 77-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF BROADBAND EXPANSION AND ACCESSIBILITY OF MISSISSIPPI TO APPOINT A COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR, COUNTY MANAGER, OR HIS OR HER DESIGNEE TO ESTABLISH, BUILD AND FACILITATE LOCAL TECHNOLOGY PLANNING TEAMS OR PARTNERSHIPS WITH CERTAIN MEMBERS REPRESENTING CROSS-SECTIONS OF THE COMMUNITY; TO REQUIRE SUCH TEAMS TO WORK WITH RURAL COMMUNITIES TO HELP UNDERSTAND CURRENT BROADBAND AVAILABILITY, LOCATE UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS, IDENTIFY ASSETS RELEVANT TO BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT, BUILD PARTNERSHIPS WITH BROADBAND SERVICE PROVIDERS, AND IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO LEVERAGE ASSETS AND REDUCE BARRIERS TO THE DEPLOYMENT OF BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICES IN THE COMMUNITY; TO REQUIRE THAT SUCH TEAMS OR PARTNERSHIPS BE PROACTIVE IN FISCALLY CONSTRAINED COUNTIES IN IDENTIFYING AND PROVIDING ASSISTANCE WITH APPLYING FOR FEDERAL GRANTS FOR BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 77-19-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATES TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF BROADBAND EXPANSION AND ACCESSIBILITY OF MISSISSIPPI, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 77-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

77-19-7. (1) The Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) shall serve as the state broadband office to review applications and make determinations and awards for projects to provide broadband access in unserved or underserved areas using the BEAM Fund created pursuant to this chapter.

(2) It shall be the duty and responsibility of BEAM to:

(a) Coordinate all broadband expansion and accessibility efforts on behalf of the state to ensure an effective and efficient use of broadband grant funds;

(b) Develop the plan and application for federal grant programs and for sub-grantees to receive funds from said federal grants;

(c) Develop rules and procedures, if necessary and in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act, to implement a competitive statewide broadband grant program;

(d) Coordinate all information provided by broadband service providers, including all broadband mapping efforts for the state. All information provided by a broadband service provider pursuant to this chapter shall be presumed to be confidential, proprietary, and subject to exemption from disclosure under state and federal law and shall not be subject to disclosure except in the form of a map where information that could be used to determine provider-specific information about the network of the broadband service providers is not disclosed. Such provider-specific information shall not be released to any person without written permission of the submitting broadband service provider. In no instance shall a broadband service provider be required to provide any data beyond that which it is required to provide to the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to 47 USC Section 641 et seq.; and

(e) Apply for and receive federal grants or funds, including, but not limited to, Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund established by Section 604 of the Social Security Act, as added by Section 9901 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, and all other federal broadband grant programs and any state support grant programs.

(3) The director of BEAM shall appoint a county administrator, county manager, or his or her designee to establish, build and facilitate local technology planning teams or partnerships with members representing cross-sections of the community, which may include, but are not limited to, representatives from the following organizations and industries: libraries, K-12 education, universities and colleges, local health care providers, private businesses, community organizations, economic development organizations, local governments, tourism, parks and recreation, and agriculture.

The local technology planning teams or partnerships shall work with rural communities to help the communities understand their current broadband availability, locate unserved and underserved businesses and residents, identify assets relevant to broadband deployment, build partnerships with broadband service providers, and identify opportunities to leverage assets and reduce barriers to the deployment of broadband Internet services in the community. The teams or partnerships must be proactive in fiscally constrained counties in identifying and providing assistance with applying for federal grants for broadband Internet service.

( * * *34) To effectuate the purposes of this chapter, any department, division, board, bureau, committee, institution or agency of the state, or any political subdivision thereof, shall, at the request of the Director of BEAM, provide the assistance, information and data needed to enable BEAM to carry out its duties.

( * * *45) There is created within the State Treasury the "Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) Fund" for the purposes of the expansion and accessibility of broadband in unserved and underserved areas. The fund shall consist of all monies designated, accepted or appropriated by the State of Mississippi for broadband deployment; all monies received from the federal government awarded to or allocated by the state for broadband deployment; and donations, gifts and monies received from any other source, including transfers from other funds or accounts. Disbursements from the fund shall be made by the Department of Finance and Administration upon appropriation by the Legislature in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. All unexpended and unencumbered monies in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund. Monies in the fund shall be invested by the State Treasurer in the same manner as monies in the State General Fund and interest earned on the investment of these monies shall be credited to the fund.

SECTION 2. Section 77-19-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

77-19-5. There is created an Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) within the Department of Finance and Administration for the purpose of making determinations and awards from applications for projects to provide broadband service in unserved or underserved areas using the Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) Fund created pursuant to Section 77-19-7. The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration shall hire a Director of BEAM to administer the office.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.