An Act To Promote Community Broadband Planning and Strengthen Economic Opportunity throughout Maine
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1063
Committee Amendment CA_A_H336 (House)
Amends: 35-A MRSA §9202

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A " 
to H.P. 732, L.D. 1063, Bill, "An Act To 
Promote Community Broadband Planning and Strengthen Economic Opportunity 
throughout Maine" 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §9202, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 665, §3, is 
amended to read: 
5. Unserved or under served area. "Unserved or underserved area" means an area 
that the authority pursuant to section ~ 
9204-A, subsection 2, paragraph B 1 
determines to meet criteria established by the authority by rule adopted pursuant to 
section 9205, subsection 3 in. aeeordaftee >;.vith seetioH 9204, sllbseetioH 1.' 
Amend the bill in section 7 in §9204-A by striking out all of subsection 4 (page 3, 
lines 12 to 16 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'4. Support broadband investment. The authority shall expand the availability of 
broadband service to residential and small business customers in unserved or underserved 
areas by identifying, developing and providing funding for broadband investments in 
unserved and underserved communities. Such investments may include infrastructure 
that is used by a single provider or by multiple providers. ' 
. 
Amend the bill in section 7 in §9204-A in subsection 8 in the 6th line (page 3, line 36 
in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "period." the following: 'When providing grants, 
direct investment or loans for broadband infrastructure investments, the authority shall 
give preference to those investments that provide the greatest relative improvement to 
existing broadband service in an unserved or underserved area.' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 10. 
Amend the bill in section 12 by striking out all of §9217 and inserting the following: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 732, L.D. 1063 
'§9217. Community broadband planning 
The authority shall provide funds for broadband planning grants to municipalities, 
groups of municipalities or nonprofit local or regional community organizations that are 
providing local or regional economic development programs to develop plans to expand 
the availability of broadband services in unserved and underserved areas. 
1. Requirements of plans. Plans funded through grants under this section must: 
A. Define local broadband needs and goals; 
B. 
Inventory existing broadband infrastructure assets within the municipality, 
municipalities or region: 
C. Include a gap analysis defming the additional broadband infrastructure necessary 
to meet identified needs and goals; 
D. Include 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 in the course of developing the plan to address any 
. broadband gaps identified in paragraph C; and 
E. Include an assessment of all municipal procedures, policies, rules and ordinances 
that have the effect of delaying or increasing the cost of broadband infrastructure 
deployment. 
The authority shall make all plans developed using grant funds under this section 
available on the authority's publicly accessible website. 
2. Distribution of grants. The authority shall ensure that planning grants under this 
section are equitably distributed throughout ,the unserved and underserved areas of the 
State and that the grants encourage collaboration between multiple communities. 
3. 
Precertification. 
The authority may establish a precertification process to 
determine eligibility for planning grants under this section to encourage adoption of 
identified best practices by participating municipalities and organizations. 
4. Limitations on matching funds. Matching funds provided by a municipality for 
planning grants under this section may not consist of in-kind contributions from the 
municipality or funds provided by a vendor or private business that proposes to build, 
operate or provide retail services using broadband infrastructure constructed pursuant to 
the planning grant.' 
Amend the bill in section 13 in the frrst and 2nd lines (page 5, lines 25 and 26 in 
L.D.) by striking out the following: "December 31, 2015" and inserting the following: 
'February 15, 2016' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment does the following. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
~c, 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 732, L.D. 1063 
1. It removes the expansion of the contribution base of entities paying into the 
ConnectME Fund by removing changes to the definitions of "communications service" 
and "communications service provider" and by retaining a provision of current law, 
proposed to be eliminated in the bill, that allows certain wireless voice or data retail 
service providers to agree to be assessed as communications service providers. 
2. It removes the requirement that broadband investments funded by the ConnectME 
Authority must benefit multiple communities and specifies that infrastructure investments 
may be capable of being used either by a single provider or by multiple providers. 
3. It directs the ConnectME Authority to give preference when supporting broadband 
infrastructure to investments that provide the greatest relative improvement to existing 
broadband service in an unserved or underserved area. 
4. 
It removes the eligibility of private or public organizations for community 
broadband planning grants and makes nonprofit local or regional community 
organizations that are providing local or regional economic development programs 
eligible for those grants. 
5. It requires that plans funded through grants include one or more potential network 
designs, cost estimates, operating models and potential business models based on input 
from broadband providers and any other parties that submit a design solution in the 
course of plan development. 
6. It requires the ConnectME Authority to ensure that grants are equitably distributed 
throughout the unserved and underserved areas of the State and that the grants encourage 
collaboration between multiple communities, but removes the requirement in the bill that 
the authority adopt rules for these purposes. 
7. It specifies that matching funds for broadband planning grants may not consist of 
in-kind contributions from the municipality or a party with a financial interest in a 
broadband infrastructure project that would be constructed pursuant to a planning grant. 
8. It extends the date for the ConnectME Authority'S triennial plan submission from 
December 31,2015 to February 15, 2016. 
FISCAL KOTE REQUIRED 
(See 'attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/05115 
.:waC! 
LD 1063 
LR 1013(02) 
An Act To Promote Community Broadband Planning and Strengthen Economic Opportunity 
throughout Maine 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'ft (f/-38f..t;j 
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Minor cost increase - ConnectME Authority 
Additional costs to the Department of Economic and Community Development associated with the Commissioner or 
the commissioner's designee serving on the ConnectME Authority and to the ConnectME Authority to implement thi~ 
legislation are expected to be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LRI013(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1