File No. 379

Senate, April 1, 2008

The Committee on Energy and Technology reported through SEN. FONFARA, J. of the 1st Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING TELECOMMUTING AND HIGH SPEED BROADBAND ACCESS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 12-81 of the 2008 supplement to the general statutes is amended by adding subdivision (77) as follows (Effective October 1, 2008, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2010):

(NEW) (77) Effective for assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2010, new computer servers, fiber optic wire and equipment or newly acquired computer servers, fiber optic wire and equipment, provided such servers, wire or equipment is (A) used by a telecommunications company in connection with updating existing or establishing new broadband or wireless Internet service infrastructure, and (B) functions at a speed or transfer rate equal to or exceeding five megabytes per second. This exemption shall be available for the same servers, wire or equipment for only two consecutive assessment years.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2008, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 2008) (a) For purposes of this section, "full-time employee" means an employee required to work at least thirty-five hours per week, and does not include a temporary or seasonal employee.

(b) There shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by chapter 208 of the general statutes on any corporation that allows its full-time employees to participate in a telecommuting or work-at-home program, in an amount equal to two thousand dollars for each calendar year such program is in effect.

Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2008) (a) The Department of Economic and Community Development, in consultation with the Department of Public Utility Control and the Broadband Internet Coordinating Council, established pursuant to section 4d-100 of the 2008 supplement to the general statutes, shall, within available appropriations, establish a public-private partnership to develop a comprehensive, state-wide high speed Internet deployment strategy and adoption initiative to (1) ensure that all state residents and businesses unserved by high speed Internet service, as defined in the Code of Federal Regulations as of January 1, 2008, have access to affordable and reliable high speed Internet service; (2) achieve improved technology literacy, increased computer ownership and home high speed Internet use among state residents and businesses; (3) establish and empower local grassroots technology teams to plan for improved technology use across multiple community sectors; and (4) establish and sustain an environment ripe for state-wide high speed Internet access and technology investment.

(b) To accomplish the objectives set forth in sections 3 to 6, inclusive, of this act, the Department of Economic and Community Development, in consultation with the Department of Public Utility Control and the Broadband Internet Coordinating Council, established pursuant to section 4d-100 of the 2008 supplement to the general statutes, shall contract with a nonprofit organization with an established competency in working with public and private sectors to accomplish wide-scale deployment and adoption of telecommunications and information technology.

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2008) The public-private partnership established pursuant to section 3 of this act shall include input and cooperation among state agencies and bodies representing economic development, local community development, technology planning, education, healthcare and other relevant entities. The private entities within the partnership shall include providers of broadband service, telecommunications providers, technology companies, community-based organizations and relevant private sector entities to achieve the purposes set forth in said section 3. Private entities submitting data in connection with efforts to develop the high speed Internet deployment strategy pursuant to said section 3 shall only provide such data to the extent and in the format the data is maintained in the normal course of business. Any information designated by the providing entity as confidential or proprietary shall be treated as such and governed by an appropriate nondisclosure agreement. The data submitted by providing entities pursuant to this section shall not be subject to disclosure under chapter 14 of the general statutes.

Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2008) The high speed Internet service deployment strategy and adoption initiative established pursuant to section 3 of this act shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Creating a geographic state-wide inventory of high speed Internet service and other relevant telecommunications and information technology services, consistent with any federal data reporting requirements. The inventory shall (A) identify geographic gaps in high speed Internet service through geographic information system mapping of service availability and geographic information system analysis at the census block level; (B) provide a baseline assessment of state-wide high speed Internet deployment in terms of percentage of households with high speed Internet availability; and (C) provide updates to these data every six months;

(2) Tracking state-wide residential and business adoption of high speed Internet, computers and related information technology through data collected directly from end-users through telephone surveys or similar methods, identifying barriers to adoption and measuring progress on these data annually;

(3) Building and facilitating in each county or designated region a local technology planning team with members representing a cross section of the community, including, but not limited to, representatives of business, kindergarten through grade twelve education, health care, libraries, higher education, community-based organizations, local government, tourism, parks and recreation and agriculture. Each team shall benchmark technology use across relevant community sectors, set goals for improved technology use within each sector and develop a business plan to achieve its goals, with specific recommendations for online application development and demand creation;

(4) Working collaboratively with high speed Internet service providers and technology companies across the state to encourage deployment and use, in underserved areas, through the use of local demand aggregation, mapping analysis and the creation of market intelligence to improve the business case for providers to deploy; and

(5) Establishing programs to improve computer ownership and Internet access for disenfranchised populations across the state.

Sec. 6. (Effective October 1, 2008) On or before March 1, 2009, the Department of Economic and Community Development shall report recommendations developed by the public-private partnership established pursuant to section 3 of this act to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to energy and technology and commerce.

Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2008) Nothing in sections 3 to 6, inclusive, of this act shall be construed as giving the Department of Economic and Community Development or other entities any additional authority, regulatory or otherwise, over providers of telecommunications and information technology.

The following fiscal impact statement and bill analysis are prepared for the benefit of members of the General Assembly, solely for the purpose of information, summarization, and explanation, and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose:

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact:

Explanation

Section 1 exempts certain equipment used by telecommunications companies from the property tax, starting with the assessment year beginning October 1, 2010. This has no municipal impact until FY 12 (see below).

Section 2 establishes a $2,000 credit per corporation against the corporation business tax for each company that allows its full-time employees to participate in a telecommuting or work-at-home program, effective January 1, 2008. This could result in a revenue loss to the General Fund of up to $28 million per year beginning in FY 09. The estimate is based on the number of businesses that file corporation tax returns.

The Department of Revenue Services would incur a one time cost of approximately $25,000 in FY 09 for computer programming associated with the credit.

Sections 3 through 7 require the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to establish, within available appropriations, a public-private partnership to develop a comprehensive, state-wide high speed Internet deployment strategy and adoption initiative. The project could cost DECD up to $500,000 associated with additional personnel and consultants to manage the project, and could include best practices research, survey development and implementation, focus groups, geographic inventory and baseline assessment, planning and development, and reporting.

The Out Years

Section 1 will result in a significant grand list reduction for all municipalities beginning in FY 12. Municipalities could choose to increase their mill rate or modify spending to offset the decrease in property taxes. Historically, telecommunication companies have paid a total of about $23.4 million per year to all municipalities in property taxes under CGS Sec 12-80a (Personal Property Used in Rendering Telecommunications Services).

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above for Sections 2 through 7 would continue into the future subject to inflation.



OLR Bill Analysis

sSB 570

AN ACT CONCERNING TELECOMMUTING AND HIGH SPEED BROADBAND ACCESS.

SUMMARY:

This bill exempts certain information technology and telecommunications equipment used by a telecommunications company from the property tax, starting with the assessment year beginning October 1, 2010. The exemption applies to new computer servers, fiber optic wire, and equipment or newly acquired computer servers, fiber optic wire, and equipment that (1) are used to update or establish new broadband or wireless Internet service infrastructure and (2) function at a speed or transfer rate equal to or exceeding five megabytes per second. The exemption applies to a particular item or equipment for two consecutive assessment years.

The bill establishes a $2,000 credit against the corporation business tax for each corporation that allows its full-time employees to participate in a telecommuting or work-at-home program. To be considered full-time, the employee must work at least 35 hours per week and cannot be a temporary or seasonal employee.

The bill requires the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to establish, within available appropriations, a comprehensive statewide high-speed Internet deployment strategy and adoption initiative. It requires DECD to do so through a private-public partnership. By March 1, 2009, DECD must report the recommendations developed by the partnership to the Energy and Technology and Commerce committees. The bill does not give DECD, or any other entity, additional regulatory or other authority over providers of telecommunications and information technology.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2008 and applicable to income years starting January 1, 2008 for the corporation tax credit; October 1, 2008 for the remaining provisions.

STATEWIDE INTERNET INITIATIVE

The bill requires DECD to establish a public-private partnership to develop a comprehensive, state wide high-speed Internet deployment strategy and adoption initiative. DECD must do so in consultation with the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) and the Broadband Internet Coordinating Council. The initiative must:

1. ensure that all state residents and businesses not served by high-speed Internet service have access to affordable and reliable high-speed Internet service,

2. improve technology literacy and increase computer ownership and home high-speed Internet use among state residents and businesses,

3. establish and empower local grassroots technology teams to plan for improved technology use across multiple community sectors,and

4. establish and sustain an environment ready for statewide high speed Internet access and technology investment.

The initiative must:

1. create a statewide geographic inventory of high-speed Internet service and other relevant telecommunications and information technology services, consistent with any federal data reporting requirements, which must (a) identify geographic gaps in high-speed Internet service through geographic information system mapping of service availability and geographic information system analysis at the census block level, (b) determine the baseline level of households with high-speed Internet availability, and (c) provide updates to these data every six months;

2. track statewide residential and business adoption of high-speed Internet, computers, and related information technology through data collected directly from end-users through telephone surveys or similar methods, identifying barriers to adoption and measuring progress on the data annually;

3. build and facilitate in each county or designated region a local technology planning team with members, including representatives of business, K-12 education, health care, libraries, higher education, community-based organizations, local government, tourism, parks and recreation and agriculture, which must benchmark technology use across relevant community sectors, set goals for improved technology use within each sector, and develop a business plan to achieve its goals, with specific recommendations for online application development and demand creation;

4. work collaboratively with high-speed Internet service providers and technology companies statewide to encourage deployment and use, in underserved areas, through the use of local demand aggregation, mapping analysis, and creating of market information to improve the business case for providers to deploy; and

5. establish programs to improve computer ownership and Internet access for disenfranchised populations across the state.

To accomplish these goals, the agencies must establish a public-private partnership. The partnership must include input and cooperation among state agencies and bodies representing economic development, local community development, technology planning, education, healthcare, and other relevant entities. The private entities within the partnership must include broadband service providers, telecommunications providers, technology companies, community-based organizations and relevant private sector entities.

Private entities submitting data in connection with efforts to develop the high speed Internet deployment strategy must provide the data only to the extent and in the format maintained in the normal course of business. Any information designated by the providing entity as confidential or proprietary must be treated as such and governed by an appropriate nondisclosure agreement. The data is not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

To implement these provisions, the agencies must contract with a nonprofit organization with an established competency in working with public and private sectors to accomplish wide-scale deployment and adoption of telecommunications and information technology.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Energy and Technology Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute