1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; providing for
1.3 	telecommunications/Internet access equity aid;
1.4 	appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in
1.5 	Minnesota Statutes, chapter 125B.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. [125B.26] TELECOMMUNICATIONS/INTERNET ACCESS
1.8 	EQUITY AID.
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Costs to be submitted. (a) A district or
1.10 	charter school shall submit its actual
1.11 	telecommunications/Internet access costs for the previous fiscal
1.12 	year, adjusted for any e-rate revenue received, to the
1.13 	department by August 15 of each year as prescribed by the
1.14 	commissioner.  Costs eligible for reimbursement under this
1.15 	program are limited to the following:
1.16 	(1) ongoing or recurring telecommunications/Internet access
1.17 	costs associated with Internet access, data lines, and video
1.18 	links providing:
1.19 	(i) the equivalent of one data line, video link, or
1.20 	integrated data/video link that relies on a transport medium
1.21 	that operates at a minimum speed of 1.544 megabytes per second
1.22 	(T1) for each elementary school, middle school, or high school
1.23 	under section 120A.05, subdivisions 9, 11, and 13, including the
1.24 	recurring telecommunications line lease costs and ongoing
1.25 	Internet access service fees; or 
2.1 	(ii) the equivalent of one data line or video circuit, or
2.2 	integrated data/video link that relies on a transport medium
2.3 	that operates at a minimum speed of 1.544 megabytes per second
2.4 	(T1) for each district, including recurring telecommunications
2.5 	line lease costs and ongoing Internet access service fees;
2.6 	(2) recurring costs of contractual of vendor-provided
2.7 	maintenance on the school district's wide area network to the
2.8 	point of presence at the school building up to the router,
2.9 	codec, or other service delivery equipment located at the point
2.10 	of presence termination at the school or school district;
2.11 	(3) recurring costs of cooperative, shared arrangements for
2.12 	regional delivery of telecommunications/Internet access between
2.13 	school districts, postsecondary institutions, and public
2.14 	libraries including network gateways, peering points, regional
2.15 	network infrastructure, Internet2 access, and network support,
2.16 	maintenance, and coordination; and 
2.17 	(4) service provider installation fees for installation of
2.18 	new telecommunications lines or increased bandwidth.
2.19 	(b) Costs not eligible for reimbursement under this program
2.20 	include:
2.21 	(1) recurring costs of school district staff providing
2.22 	network infrastructure support;
2.23 	(2) recurring costs associated with voice and standard
2.24 	telephone service;
2.25 	(3) costs associated with purchase of network hardware,
2.26 	telephones, computers, or other peripheral equipment needed to
2.27 	deliver telecommunications access to the school or school
2.28 	district;
2.29 	(4) costs associated with laying fiber for
2.30 	telecommunications access;
2.31 	(5) costs associated with wiring school or school district
2.32 	buildings;
2.33 	(6) costs associated with purchase, installation, or
2.34 	purchase and installation of Internet filtering; and 
2.35 	(7) costs associated with digital content, including online
2.36 	learning or distance learning programming, and information
3.1 	databases.
3.2 		Subd. 2.E-rates. To be eligible for aid under this
3.3 	section, a district or charter school is required to file an
3.4 	e-rate application either separately or through its
3.5 	telecommunications access cluster and have a current technology
3.6 	plan on file with the department.  Discounts received on
3.7 	telecommunications expenditures shall be reflected in the costs
3.8 	submitted to the department for aid under this section.
3.9 		Subd. 3.Reimbursement criteria. The commissioner shall
3.10 	develop criteria for approving costs submitted by school
3.11 	districts and charter schools under subdivision 1.
3.12 		Subd. 4.District aid. For fiscal year 2006, a district
3.13 	or charter school's Internet access equity aid equals 90 percent
3.14 	of the district or charter school's approved cost for the
3.15 	previous fiscal year according to subdivision 1 exceeding $15
3.16 	times the district's adjusted marginal cost pupil units for the
3.17 	previous fiscal year.  For fiscal year 2007 and later, a
3.18 	district or a district or charter school's Internet access
3.19 	equity aid equals 90 percent of the district or charter school's
3.20 	approved cost for the previous fiscal year according to
3.21 	subdivision 1 exceeding $18 times the district's adjusted pupil
3.22 	units for the previous fiscal year, as adjusted under section
3.23 	126C.05, subdivision 14.
3.24 		Subd. 5.Telecommunications/internet access services for
3.25 	nonpublic schools. (a) Districts shall provide each year upon
3.26 	formal request by or on behalf of a nonpublic school, not
3.27 	including home schools, located in that district or area,
3.28 	ongoing or recurring telecommunications access services to the
3.29 	nonpublic school either through existing district providers or
3.30 	through separate providers.
3.31 	(b) The amount of district aid for telecommunications
3.32 	access services for each nonpublic school under this subdivision
3.33 	equals the lesser of:
3.34 	(1) 90 percent of the nonpublic school's approved cost for
3.35 	the previous fiscal year according to subdivision 1 exceeding
3.36 	$10 for fiscal year 2006 and $13 for fiscal year 2007 and later
4.1 	times the number of weighted pupils enrolled at the nonpublic
4.2 	school as of October 1 of the previous school year; or 
4.3 	(2) the product of the district's aid per pupil unit
4.4 	according to subdivision 4 times the number of weighted pupils
4.5 	enrolled at the nonpublic school as of October 1 of the previous
4.6 	school year.
4.7 	(c) For purposes of this subdivision, nonpublic school
4.8 	pupils shall be weighted by grade level using the weighting
4.9 	factors defined in section 126C.05, subdivision 1.
4.10 	(d) Each year, a district providing services under
4.11 	paragraph (a) may claim up to five percent of the aid determined
4.12 	in paragraph (b) for costs of administering this subdivision.
4.13 	No district may expend an amount for these telecommunications
4.14 	access services which exceeds the amount allocated under this
4.15 	subdivision.  The nonpublic school is responsible for the
4.16 	Internet access costs not covered by this section.
4.17 	(e) At the request of a nonpublic school, districts may
4.18 	allocate the amount determined in paragraph (b) directly to the
4.19 	nonpublic school to pay for or offset the nonpublic school's
4.20 	costs for telecommunications access services, however, the
4.21 	amount allocated directly to the nonpublic school may not exceed
4.22 	the actual amount of the school's ongoing or recurring
4.23 	telecommunications access costs.
4.24 		Subd. 6.Severability. If any portion of this section is
4.25 	found by a court to be unconstitutional, the remaining portions
4.26 	of the section shall remain in effect.
4.27 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for revenue for
4.28 	fiscal year 2006.

4.29 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATIONS.
 4.30 		Subdivision 1.Department of education. The sums
4.31 	indicated in this section are appropriated from the general fund
4.32 	to the Department of Education for the fiscal years designated.
4.33 		Subd. 2.Equity in telecommunications access. For equity
4.34 	in telecommunications access:
4.35 	$4,500,000 .....2006
4.36 	     $4,600,000 .....2007