An Act To Establish the Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1185
Committee Amendment CA_A_H288 (House)
Amends: 35-A MRSA §9211-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A " to H.P. 818, L.D. 1185, Bill, "An Act To 
Establish the Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'PART A 
Sec. A-I. 35-A MRSA §9211-A is enacted to read: 
§9211-A. Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Applicant" means a community, regional partnership or municipality that applies 
for a grant under this section. 
B. "Community" means a municipality with a population of at least 1,200 people, as 
determined by the authority in accordance with the United States Census data, or a 
municipality that has received a waiver from this population requirement from the 
authority upon a determination that the municipality is in an unserved or underserved 
area. 
C. 
"Fund" means the Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund 
established in this section. 
D. "Regional partnership" means 2 or more municipalities that do not, on their own, 
meet the requirements of paragraph B and have joined together with one or more 
contiguous municipalities in the region to achieve the population requirements of 
paragraph B. 
2. Fund established. The Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund is 
established as a nonlapsing, revolving fund administered by the authority for the purposes 
of supporting the activities and projects of the authority under this section. All money in 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A "toR.P. 818,L.D.1l85 
the fund must be continuously applied by the authority to carry out this section. The fund 
consists of money appropriated to it by the Legislature from the General Fund, as well as 
any gifts, contributions, grants or bequests received from federal, private or other sources. 
3. Purpose of the fund. The fund is established to address the need in the State for 
access to ultra high-speed broadband infrastructure that will enhance the State's 
competitiveness in national and international economies. The fund must be used to 
provide grants to communities, regional partnerships and municipalities to support 
pUblic-private partnerships to support a municipal gigabit fiber-optic broadband network 
in their regions with the following goals: 
A. 
Provide high-speed broadband access to attract, create and grow the State's 
economy and market the products and services of businesses in the State in national 
and international markets with ultra high-speed symmetric connectivity and address 
challenges in geography; 
B. Provide expanded health care services by facilitating access to telemedicine, as 
defmed in Title 24-A. section 4316, subsection 1, and state and local services for 
senior citizens and persons with disabilities; 
C. Expand educational opportunities for students across the State through virtual and 
distance learning; 
D. Facilitate broader access for the public to services provided by municipal and 
county governments, including, but not limited to, law enforcement entities, the 
judicial system and child, youth and family social services; and 
E. Provide expanded residential services to support employment opportunities. 
In order to facilitate the achievement of the goals and policies of this section, the 
authority shall establish and regularly update, after opportunity for public comment and 
taking into consideration relevant federal policies, defmitions of "gigabit fiber-optic 
broadband network" and "ultra high-speed broadband infrastructure. " 
4. Implementation grants; maximum awards. Beginning January 1, 2016, the 
authority is authorized to award implementation grants as follows. 
A. The authority shall award a minimum of 25 implementation grants to achieve the 
goals described in subsection 3. The authority may award additional implementation 
grants if funding is available. 
B. An implementation grant to an applicant may not exceed $200,000 for each 
eligible project selected for funding. 
C. 
An implementation grant may be awarded only to an applicant that has 
demonstrated to the satisfaction of the authority that it has participated in a planning 
grant process as described in subsections 5, 6 and 7. 
D. Municipalities selected for funding must be required to provide a 25% cash 
match. 
5. Planning grants; requirements for applicants. In order to assist applicants with 
completion of the planning process necessary to achieve the goals of this section, the 
authority may award up to 25 planning grants of up to $20,000 for community applicants 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A "to H.P. 818, L.D. 1185 
and up to $25,000 for regional partnerships and municipalities, which require a cash 
match. The authority shall establish application requirements for planning grants for 
community and regional applicants that require an applicant to demonstrate to the 
satisfaction of the authority participation with public and private institutions and local 
businesses in the development of the grant process. Municipal applicants must provide 
the authority with the following information: 
A. An economic development plan that identifies how the municipality will use ultra 
high-speed broadband access to fulfill the economic goals of the municipality; 
B. 
A written commitment to nondiscriminatory open access to the broadband 
infrastructure by all parties involved in the grant; 
C. A written summary of public forums used to gather information from the public in 
establishing the goals for the grant that serve the goals of this section;, 
D. Information gathered from local public and private institutions that identifies how 
the broadband services will expand access to state and local services identified under 
subsection 3; and 
E. 
A summary of input received from the business community to identify the 
services that will be used in planning the implementation grant application. 
6. Planning grant requirements. An applicant awarded a planning grant under 
subsection 5 must provide to the authority: 
A. Identification of the local broadband needs and goals; 
B. An inventory of existing broadband infrastructure assets within the municipality, 
municipalities or region; 
C. The results of a gap analysis that defines the additional broadband infrastructure 
necessary to meet identified needs and goals; 
D. One or more potential network designs, cost estimates, operating models and 
potential business models, based on input from broadband providers operating within 
the municipality, municipalities or region and any other parties that submit a network 
design solution, to address any broadband gaps identified in the analysis described in 
paragraph C; and 
E. An assessment of all existing municipal procedures, policies, rules and ordinances 
that may have the effect of delaying or increasing the cost of broadband infrastructure 
deployment. 
7. Cash match for planning grants; restrictions. The cash match required from 
the applicant for a planning grant under subsection 5 may consist of municipal 
appropriations, private funds, funding from economic development entities and funding 
from nonprofit entities. The cash match for planning grants may not consist of funds 
provided by a vendor or private business that proposes to build, operate or provide retail 
services using the gigabit fiber-optic broadband network. 
8. 
Technical assistance; contract for services. 
The authority shall provide 
technical assistance to applicants that request assistance with the grant application 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 'A" to H.P. 818, L.D. 1185 
process. 
The authority may contract for services to assist in the administration, 
management and evaluation of the fund. 
9. Rules; application procedure. The authority shall adopt rules to implement this 
section, including rules governing the application process for the fund. Rules adopted 
under this subsection are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
10. Report. Beginning December 15, 2016, the authority shall provide an annual 
report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over energy 
and utility matters on the grants distributed from the fund and an analysis of the fund's 
activities that have addressed the need for expansion of ultra high-speed broadband 
access in the State. 
Sec. A-2. ConnectME Authority to establish timeline and standards for 
grants under the Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund. By 
November 1, 2015, the ConnectME Authority shall establish standards for 
implementation of the Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund established in 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 9211-A, including a process to identify 
how awards for certification as a broadband-ready community can be made under the 
fund, a process for providing technical assistance to applicants that are interested in 
applying for grants under the fund, a process for providing for the installation of the 
broadband network, a process for providing workshops in 6 regions of the State to assist 
applicants with the certification and application process under the fund and a process for 
providing applicants with assistance in the selection of a consultant, when necessary, to 
achieve the goals of the fund and for requesting proposals for management of the 
broadband network once a grant from the fund has been made. 
Sec. A-3. 
ConnectME Authority to perform an evaluation of the 
Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund. By January 1, 2017, the 
ConnectME Authority shall perform an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Municipal 
Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
35-A, section 921l-A, using the following indicators: the effect the fund has had on the 
state and local economy; the best practices and models for broadband expansion that have 
been identified by the authority; the effect of economic development activities on the 
competitiveness of industry sectors in the State; any barriers to effective implementation 
of potential federal and private funds to expand the network and any barriers to 
implementation of the goals of the fund; the economic effect of each grant; and the 
cumulative economic effect of the grants from the fund. The authority may enter into a 
contract with an independent entity to assist with the evaluation of the Municipal Gigabit 
Broadband Network Access Fund under this section. 
PARTB 
Sec. B-1. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
CONNECTME AUTHORITY 
Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund N185 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A "toH.P. 818,L.D.1l85 
Initiative: Provides one-time funds for planning and implementation grants to 
communities and municipalities to support public-private partnerships to establish a 
municipal gigabit fiber-optic broadband network in their regions. 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund N185 
2015-16 
$5,500,000 
$5,500,000 
2016-17 
$0 
$0 
Initiative: Provides one-time funds for the evaluation of the Municipal Gigabit Broadband 
Network Access Fund. 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund N185 
2015-16 
$250,000 
$250,000 
2016-17 
$0 
$0 
Initiative: Provides funds to establish a new part-time Management Analyst I position 
through June 30, 2018. 
GENERAL FUND 
POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT 
Personal Services 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund NIBS 
2015-16 
0.500 
$12,993 
$1,700 
$14,693 
Initiative: Provides one-time funds for outside consultant services. 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
CONNECTME AUTHORITY 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 
2015-16 
$250,000 
$250,000 
2015-16 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
2016-17 
0.500 
$17,602 
$2,267 
$19,869 
2016-17 
$0 
$0 
2016-17 
~ or~; 
1L 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A "to H.P. 818, L.D. 1185 
GENERAL FUND 
DEPARTMENT TOTAL-ALL FUNDS 
SUMMARY 
$6,014,693 
$19,869 
$6,014,693 
$19,869 
This amendment is the majority report of the committee. This amendment does the 
following. 
1. It changes the entity in charge of administering the Municipal Gigabit Broadband 
Network Access Fund from the Department of Economic and Community Development 
to the ConnectME Authority. 
2. It reduces the minimum number of implementation grants to be awarded from 50 
to 25. 
3. It removes the provision requiring a minimum number of implementation grants to 
be awarded to economically disadvantaged communities. 
4. It reduces the maximum number of planning grants to be awarded from 50 to 25. 
5. It includes submission requirements for those awarded planning grants. 
6. It removes those sections of the bill that require th~ ConnectME Authority to 
review laws, rules and regulations related to high-speed broadband access and that direct 
the Public Utilities Commission to eliminate barriers regarding ultra high-speed 
broadband infrastructure. 
7. 
It reduces the overall amount to be allocated from the General Fund from 
approximately $12,000,000 to approximately $6,000,000 and makes corresponding 
reductions to initiatives to achieve the reduction in the overall amount to be allocated. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/01115 
Mac 
LD 1185 
LR 1510(02) 
An Act To Establish the Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'fJt (Ii -d..~g ') 
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
FY 2015-16 
FY 2016-17 
Projections 
FY 2017-18 
Projections 
FY 2018-19 
Net Cost (Savings) 
General Fund 
Appropria tions/ Alloca tions 
General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
$6,014,693 
$6,014,693 
$19,869 
$20,573 
$0 
$19,869 
$20,573 
$0 
This bill includes one-time General Fund appropriations totaling $6,000,000 in fiscal year 2015-16 to the newly 
established Municipal Gigabit Broadband Network Access Fund within the ConnectME Authority (ConnectME) for 
the costs associated with addressing the need in the State for access to ultra high-speed broadband infrastructure. Of 
this amount, $500,000 is appropriated for the cost to administer and hire outside consultant services for the project 
and $5,500,000 is appropriated for one-time planning and implementation grants to communities and municipalities 
to support pUblic-private partnerships to establish a municipal gigabit fiber-optic broadband network in their regions. 
The bill also includes General Fund appropriations of$14,693 in fiscal year 2015-16 and $19,869 in fiscal year 2016-
for one part-time Management Analyst I position to assist ConnectME in administering this fund. This position 
will operate until June 30, 2018. 
LR15 10(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1