A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN act creating the Joint broadband access task force and appropriating funds for that purpose.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  There is created the Joint Broadband Task Force (Task Force). The purpose of the Task Force is to bring together public and private Internet access providers, legislators, and others to:
(1)	Examine issues related to last mile broadband deployments in the State and to improving the rate at which the general public accesses high speed broadband.
(2)	Consider incentives and other funding mechanisms to advance last mile deployments.
(3)	Review the best and most cost effective ways to address the needs of communities and households that lack broadband access. 
(4)	Consider any other matters relating to last mile broadband deployment in this State.
SECTION 1.(b)  The Task Force shall consist of 21 voting members appointed as follows:
(1)	Ten members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, including:
a.	Five members of the House of Representatives.
b.	One representative of the North Carolina League of Municipalities.
c.	One representative of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners.
d.	One representative of a large telephone company that provides high-speed Internet service to 200,000 or more access lines.
e.	One representative of a wireless high-speed Internet access provider.
f.	One member of the general public.
(2)	Ten members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, including:
a.	Five members of the Senate.
b.	One representative of the North Carolina League of Municipalities.
c.	One representative of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners.
d.	One representative of a small telephone company that provides high-speed Internet service to less than 200,000 access lines.
e.	One representative of a cable television company that provides high-speed Internet access.
f.	One member of the general public.
(3)	One member elected by a vote of the other members of the Task Force from nominees recommended by municipalities providing high-speed Internet access within the State.
SECTION 1.(c)  The State Chief Information Officer, a member of the Utilities Commission, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation (or the Secretary's designee), and a representative of the e‑NC Authority shall serve as nonvoting ex officio members of the Task Force.
SECTION 2.  The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate each shall appoint a cochair for the Task Force. The Task Force may contract for consultant services as provided by G.S. 120‑32.02. Upon approval of the Legislative Services Commission, the Legislative Services Officer shall assign professional and clerical staff to assist in the work of the Task Force. Clerical staff shall be furnished through the offices of the House of Representatives' and the Senate's Directors of Legislative Assistants. The Task Force may meet in the Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building upon the approval of the Legislative Services Commission. The appointing authority shall fill vacancies. The Task Force, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all the powers provided under the provisions of G.S. 120‑19 through G.S. 120‑19.4, including the power to request all officers, agents, agencies, and departments of the State to provide any information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them and the power to subpoena witnesses.  Members of the Task Force shall receive per diem, subsistence, and travel allowances as follows:
(1)	Members of the General Assembly, at the rate established in G.S. 120‑3.1.
(2)	Members who are officials or employees of the State or of local government agencies, at the rate established in G.S. 138‑6.
(3)	All other members, at the rate established in G.S. 138‑5.
SECTION 3.  The Task Force shall report to the 2011 General Assembly and shall terminate upon filing its final report.
SECTION 4.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the General Assembly the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) for the 2010‑2011 fiscal year to fund the work of the Task Force.
SECTION 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2010.