Senate Bill 2562
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2562
By Senator Hargrett
21-1490A-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to computer access; creating a
3 community computer-access grant program, to be
4 known as the Community High-Technology
5 Investment Partnership, or CHIP, program;
6 providing legislative intent; providing
7 purposes of the program; providing for grants
8 to be awarded to eligible neighborhood
9 facilities; providing for the Division of
10 Libraries and Information Services of the
11 Department of State to administer the grant
12 program; providing requirements for grant
13 applications; prescribing the maximum amount of
14 a grant; requiring a grant agreement between
15 the division and the recipient facility;
16 providing for establishing minimum
17 specifications of computers purchased under the
18 program; providing for an evaluation and a
19 report; providing an effective date.
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21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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23 Section 1. Community computer access grant program.--
24 (1) The Legislature finds that there is a growing
25 "digital divide" in the state, manifested in the fact that
26 many youths from distressed urban communities do not possess
27 the degree and ease of access to computers and information
28 technologies which youths in other communities in the state
29 possess. This disparity in access to rapidly changing and
30 commercially significant technologies has a negative impact on
31 the educational, workforce development, and employment
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2562
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1 competitiveness of these needy youths and, thereby, impedes
2 the economic development of the distressed urban communities
3 in which these youths reside. Although many public libraries
4 offer users access to computers and increasingly are making
5 library materials available to the public through electronic
6 means, many youths from distressed urban communities do not
7 live near a library that has such technology and do not have
8 computers to access Internet-based virtual libraries.
9 Neighborhood organizations, such as churches, are more likely,
10 however, to be located in closer proximity to the homes of
11 these youths than are educational institutions or libraries,
12 and these youths are more likely to gain the desirable
13 computer access at church-related or other neighborhood
14 facilities than at other institutions. The Legislature
15 therefore finds that a public purpose is served in enhancing
16 the ability of youths from these communities to have access to
17 computers and the Internet within the neighborhoods in which
18 they reside.
19 (2) Subject to legislative appropriation, the Division
20 of Library and Information Services of the Department of
21 State, in consultation with the State Technology Office and
22 the state's Chief Information Officer, shall establish a
23 Community High-Technology Investment Partnership (CHIP)
24 program to assist distressed urban communities in securing
25 computers for access by youths between the ages of 5 years and
26 18 years who reside in these communities.
27 (3)(a) Under this program, neighborhood facilities,
28 through their governing bodies, may apply to the division for
29 grants to purchase computers that will be available for use by
30 eligible youths who reside in the immediate vicinity of the
31 neighborhood facility. For purposes of this program, eligible
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2562
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1 neighborhood facilities include, but are not limited to,
2 facilities operated by:
3 1. Units of local government, including school
4 districts;
5 2. Not-for-profit, faith-based organizations,
6 including neighborhood churches;
7 3. Not-for-profit civic associations or homeowners'
8 associations; and
9 4. Not-for-profit organizations the missions of which
10 include improving conditions for residents of distressed urban
11 communities.
12 (b) Notwithstanding the eligibility of the
13 organizations identified in paragraph (a), the division shall
14 give priority consideration for funding under this program to
15 applications submitted by neighborhood churches or by
16 neighborhood-based not-for-profit organizations that have as a
17 principal part of their missions improving conditions for
18 residents of the same neighborhoods in which the organizations
19 are located. The division also shall give priority
20 consideration to organizations that can demonstrate that they
21 have not been awarded community enhancement or similar
22 community support grants from state or local government on a
23 regular basis in the past. The division shall develop weighted
24 criteria to be used in evaluating applications from such
25 churches or organizations.
26 (4) The division shall develop guidelines governing
27 the administration of this program and shall establish
28 criteria to be used in evaluating an application for funding.
29 At a minimum, the division must find that:
30 (a) The neighborhood that is to be served by the grant
31 suffers from general economic distress;
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1 (b) Eligible youths who reside in the vicinity of the
2 neighborhood facility have difficulty obtaining access to a
3 library or schools that have sufficient computers; and
4 (c) The neighborhood facility has developed a detailed
5 plan, as required under subsection (5), for:
6 1. Providing youths who reside in the vicinity of the
7 facility with access to any computer purchased with grant
8 funds, including evening and weekend access when libraries and
9 schools are closed; and
10 2. Promoting the maximum participation of neighborhood
11 youths in use of any computers purchased with grant funds.
12 (5) As part of an application for funding, the
13 neighborhood facility must submit a plan that demonstrates:
14 (a) The manner in which eligible youths who reside in
15 the immediate vicinity of the facility will be provided with
16 access to any computer purchased with grant funds, including
17 access during hours when libraries and schools are closed;
18 (b) The existence of safeguards to ensure that any
19 computer purchased with grant funds is reserved for the
20 educational use of eligible youths who reside in the immediate
21 vicinity of the facility and is not used to support the
22 business operations of the neighborhood facility or its
23 governing body; and
24 (c) The existence, in the neighborhood facility, of
25 telecommunications infrastructure necessary to guarantee
26 access to the Internet through any computer purchased with
27 grant funds.
28 (6) The maximum amount of a grant which may be awarded
29 to any single neighborhood facility under this program is
30 $2,500.
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1 (7) Before the division may allocate funds for a grant
2 under this program, the division and the eligible neighborhood
3 facility must execute a grant agreement that governs the terms
4 and conditions of the grant.
5 (8) The division, based upon guidance from the State
6 Technology Office and the state's Chief Information Officer,
7 shall establish minimum requirements governing the
8 specifications and capabilities of any computers purchased
9 with funds awarded under this grant program.
10 (9) Before the 2002 Regular Session of the
11 Legislature, the division shall evaluate the outcomes of this
12 program and report the results of the evaluation to the
13 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
14 House of Representatives. At a minimum, the evaluation must
15 assess the extent to which the program has improved access to
16 computers for youths who reside in distressed urban
17 communities. As part of this report, the division shall
18 identify any impediments to the effective implementation and
19 utilization of the program and shall make recommendations on
20 methods to eliminate any such impediments. In addition, the
21 division shall make recommendations as to whether it would be
22 sound public policy to continue the program; whether the
23 program should be expanded to address additional target
24 populations, including, but not limited to, youths in
25 distressed rural communities and adults in distressed urban or
26 rural communities; and whether the list of neighborhood
27 facilities eligible to participate in the program should be
28 revised or whether priority consideration for funding should
29 be revised to emphasize a particular type of neighborhood
30 facility. The report required under this subsection shall be
31 submitted by January 1, 2002.
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2562
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1 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
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4 SENATE SUMMARY
5 Creates the Community High-Technology Investment
Partnership (CHIP) program, which is to be administered
6 by the Division of Library and Information Services of
the Department of State. Provides legislative intent.
7 Provides that the purpose of the program is to provide
computer access to individuals who live in distressed
8 urban and rural communities and who neither own computers
nor can readily reach a library that provides computer
9 access. Provides for grants to be awarded to eligible
neighborhood facilities so that they may purchase
10 computers and make them available to neighborhood
residents. Provides requirements for grant applications.
11 Limits the maximum amount of a grant to $2,500. Requires
that a grant agreement be executed between the division
12 and the recipient facility. Provides for the division to
establish minimum specifications of computers purchased
13 under the program. Requires the division to conduct an
evaluation of the program and to submit a report to the
14 Governor and to the chief legislative officers by January
1, 2002.
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