LRB-0704/P6
MDK:cdc/wlj/ahe
2019 - 2020 LEGISLATURE
DOA:......Sherwin, BB0053 - TEACH Statutory Language Changes
For 2019-2021 Budget -- Not Ready For Introduction
An Act ...; relating to: the budget.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
State government
Other state government
1. Technology for Educational Achievement program
This bill makes various changes to the Technology for Educational Achievement program, known as TEACH, which is administered by DOA. The TEACH program offers telecommunications access to school districts, private schools, cooperative educational service agencies, technical college districts, independent charter school authorizers, juvenile correctional facilities, private and tribal colleges, and public library boards at discounted rates and by subsidizing the cost of installing data lines and video links. As part of the TEACH program, DOA awards information technology block grants to rural school districts and public libraries to improve information technology infrastructure. Under current law, the information technology block grant program ends on July 1, 2019. The maximum total amount DOA is allowed to award under the block grant program in the 2018-19 fiscal year is $7,500,000.
The bill continues the information technology block grant program until June 30, 2021. The bill also specifies that in each of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years, the maximum total amount DOA may award under the block grant program is $3,000,000. The bill also specifies that a school district's eligibility for the block grants is based on its membership in the most recent school year for which finalized data is available, instead of membership in the previous year. For other block grant requirements that refer to municipal population, the bill clarifies that population is determined in the first year of a fiscal biennium. For block grants made to public libraries, the bill makes changes to eligibility requirements pertaining to rural territories and makes certain public library systems and consortia of public libraries eligible for the grants.
The bill also eliminates grants to the following under the TEACH program: 1) school districts, public libraries, and public library systems for training teacher and librarians to use educational technology; and 2) school districts for developing and implementing a technology-enhanced high school curriculum. For the educational telecommunications access program under TEACH, the bill increases the data line speed that applies to a limit on what DOA may charge educational agencies for data lines. The bill also eliminates references to video links under the TEACH program.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1
. 16.99 (3r) of the statutes is created to read:
16.99 (3r) “Rural territory” means any territory, population, and housing units located outside urbanized areas or urban clusters.
Section
2. 16.99 (6) of the statutes is repealed.
Section 3
. 16.9945 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.9945
(1) Competitive grants. (intro.) In fiscal years 2017-18
and, 2018-19,
2019-20, and 2020-21, the department may annually award grants on a competitive basis to eligible school districts and to eligible public libraries for the purpose of improving information technology infrastructure. For purposes of awarding grants under this section, “improving information technology infrastructure” includes purchasing and installing on a bus a portable device that creates an area of wireless Internet coverage and purchasing for individuals to temporarily borrow from a school or for patrons to check out from a public library a portable device that creates an area of wireless Internet coverage. In awarding grants to eligible school districts under this section, the department shall give priority to applications for school districts in which the percentage of pupils who satisfy the income eligibility criteria under
42 USC 1758 (b) (1) for a free or reduced-price lunch is greater than in other applicant school districts. The department shall require an applicant for a grant under this section to provide all of the following:
Section 4
. 16.9945 (2) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 16.9945 (2) and amended to read:
16.9945 (2) A school district is eligible for a grant under this section in fiscal year 2017-18 if the school district's membership in the previous most recent school year for which finalized school year data is available divided by the school district's area in square miles is 16 or less.
Section 5
. 16.9945 (2) (b) of the statutes is repealed.
****Note: This is reconciled s. 16.9945 (2). This Section has been affected by drafts with the following LRB numbers: -0704/P5 and -0911/P2.
Section
6. 16.9945 (2m) (a) (intro.) of the statutes is repealed.
Section
7. 16.9945 (2m) (a) 1. of the statutes is renumbered 16.99 (3c).
Section
8. 16.9945 (2m) (a) 2. of the statutes is renumbered 16.99 (5g).
Section
9. 16.9945 (2m) (a) 3. of the statutes is renumbered 16.99 (5r).
Section
10. 16.9945 (2m) (b) (intro.) of the statutes is renumbered 16.9945 (2m) (b) and amended to read:
16.9945 (2m) (b) A public library, including
the branch of a public library a library branch, is eligible for a grant under this section
in fiscal year 2017-18 or in fiscal year 2018-19 or in both fiscal years if the population of the municipality within which the library or branch of the library
library branch is located, as determined in the first year of the fiscal biennium, is 20,000 or less and if the public library or branch library branch is located in one of the following areas of the state:
a rural territory.
****Note: This is reconciled s. 16.9945 (2m) (b). This Section has been affected by drafts with the following LRB numbers: -0704/P5 and -0911/P2.
Section 11
. 16.9945 (2m) (b) 1. to 3. of the statutes are repealed.
Section 12
. 16.9945 (2m) (c) of the statutes is created to read:
16.9945 (2m) (c) A consortium of public libraries is eligible for a grant under this section and a public library system is eligible for a grant under this section if all of the following apply:
1. Either of the following applies:
a. The consortium consists of 3 or more eligible public libraries or library branches.
b. The public library system contains 3 or more eligible public libraries or library branches.
2. The consortium or public library system applies for a grant under this section.
Section
13. 16.9945 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.9945 (3) (a) If the membership of the eligible school district, as determined in the first year of the fiscal biennium, is fewer than 750 pupils, $30,000.
Section
14. 16.9945 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.9945 (3) (b) If the membership of the eligible school district, as determined in the first year of the fiscal biennium, is 750 pupils to 1,500 pupils, $40 multiplied by the school district's membership.
Section
15. 16.9945 (3) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.9945 (3) (c) If the membership of the eligible school district, as determined in the first year of the fiscal biennium, is more than 1,500 pupils, $60,000.
Section
16. 16.9945 (3m) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.9945 (3m) (a) If the population of the municipality within which the eligible public library or branch library branch is located, as determined in the first year of the fiscal biennium, is 2,000 or less, $5,000.
Section
17. 16.9945 (3m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.9945 (3m) (b) If the population of the municipality within which the eligible public library or branch library branch is located, as determined in the first year of the fiscal biennium, is at least 2,001 but less than 5,000, $7,500.
Section
18. 16.9945 (3m) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.9945 (3m) (c) If the population of the municipality within which the eligible public library or branch library branch is located, as determined in the first year of the fiscal biennium, is at least 5,000 but less than 20,001, $10,000.
Section
19. 16.9945 (4) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
16.9945 (4) Funding limitation. The department may not award grants under this section that total more than $3,000,000 in the 2019-20 or 2020-21 fiscal year.
Section 20
. 16.9945 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.9945 (5) Sunset. The department may not award grants under this section after July 1, 2019 June 30, 2021.
****Note: This is reconciled s. 16.9945 (4). This Section has been affected by drafts with the following LRB numbers: -0704/P5 and -0911/P2.
Section 21
. 16.996 of the statutes is repealed.
Section
22. 16.997 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.997 (1) Except as provided in s. 196.218 (4t), the department shall promulgate rules establishing an educational telecommunications access program to provide educational agencies with access to data lines and video links.
Section
23. 16.997 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.997 (2) (a) Allow an educational agency to make a request to the department for access to data lines and video links.
Section
24. 16.997 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.997 (2) (b) Establish eligibility requirements for an educational agency to participate in the program established under sub. (1) and to receive additional telecommunications access under s. 16.998, including a requirement that a charter school sponsor use data lines and video links to benefit pupils attending the charter school and a requirement that Internet access to material that is harmful to children, as defined in s. 948.11 (1) (b), is blocked on the computers of juvenile correctional facilities that are served by data links and video links subsidized under this section.
Section
25. 16.997 (2) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.997 (2) (c) Establish specifications for data lines and video links for which access is provided to an educational agency under the program established under sub. (1) or for which additional access is provided to an educational agency under s. 16.998.
Section
26. 16.997 (2) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.997 (2) (d) Require an educational agency to pay the department not more than $250 per month for each data line or video link that is provided to the educational agency under the program established under sub. (1), except that the charge may not exceed $100 per month for each data line or video link that relies on a transport medium that operates at a speed of 1.544 megabits 1 gigabyte per second.
Section
27. 16.997 (2) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.997 (2) (f) Ensure that juvenile correctional facilities that receive access under this section to data lines and video links or that receive additional access under s. 16.998 to data lines, video links, and bandwidth use those data lines and video links and that bandwidth only for educational purposes.
Section
28. 16.997 (2c) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.997 (2c) The department shall develop criteria to use to evaluate whether to provide more than one data line and video link to an educational agency. The department shall include in the criteria an educational agency's current bandwidth, equipment, and readiness, and the available providers and any other economic development in the geographic area that the educational agency serves.
Section
29. 16.997 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
16.997 (3) The department shall prepare an annual report on the status of providing data lines and video links that are requested under sub. (2) (a) and the impact on the universal service fund of any payment under contracts under s. 16.974.
Section 30
. 16.997 (7) of the statutes is repealed.
Section
31. 16.998 of the statutes is amended to read:
16.998 Educational telecommunications; additional access. An educational agency that is eligible for a rate discount for telecommunications services under
47 USC 254 may request data lines
, video links, and bandwidth access that is in addition to what is provided under the program under s. 16.997 (1). The department shall apply for aid under
47 USC 254 to cover the costs of the data lines
, video links, and bandwidth access that are provided under this section and shall credit any aid received to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (4) (mp). To the extent that the aid does not fully cover those costs, the department shall require an educational agency to pay the department a monthly fee that is sufficient to cover those costs and shall credit any monthly fee received to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (4) (Lm).
20.505 (4) (s) Telecommunications access for educational agencies,; infrastructure grants, and training grants for teachers and librarians. Biennially, from the universal service fund, the amounts in the schedule to make payments to telecommunications providers under contracts under s. 16.971 (13), (14), and (15) to the extent that the amounts due are not paid from the appropriation under sub. (1) (is), and to make payments to telecommunications providers under contracts under s. 16.971 (16) to the extent that the amounts due are not paid from the appropriation under sub. (1) (kL), to make grants to school district consortia under s. 16.997 (7), and to make educational technology teacher training grants and librarian training grants under s. 16.996 and to make information technology infrastructure grants under s. 16.9945.
****Note: This is reconciled s. 20.505 (4) (s). This Section has been affected by drafts with the following LRB numbers: -0704/P5 and -0911/P2.
Section 33
. 118.40 (2r) (e) 2p. a. of the statutes is amended to read:
118.40 (2r) (e) 2p. a. Add the amounts appropriated in the current fiscal year under s. 20.255 (2), except s. 20.255 (2) (ac), (aw), (az), (bb), (dg), (dj), (fm), (fp), (fq), (fr), (fu), (k), and (m); and s. 20.505 (4) (es); and the amount, as determined by the secretary of administration, of the appropriation under s. 20.505 (4) (s) allocated for payments to telecommunications providers under contracts with school districts and cooperative educational service agencies under s. 16.971 (13), for grants to school district consortia under s. 16.997 (7), and to make educational technology teacher training grants under s. 16.996.
****Note: This is reconciled s. 118.40 (2r) (e) 2p. a. This Section has been affected by drafts with the following LRB numbers:-0704/P5, -1293/P2, and -1294/P2.
Section 34
. 196.218 (5) (a) 12. of the statutes is repealed.
(End)
