1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to economic development; providing catalyst 
  1.3             grants to promote Internet access in rural Minnesota; 
  1.4             appropriating money. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [APPROPRIATION; CATALYST GRANTS.] 
  1.7      $1,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  1.8   commissioner of trade and economic development for catalyst 
  1.9   grants to local governments to expand Internet access in areas 
  1.10  of rural Minnesota that are otherwise unlikely to receive access 
  1.11  through existing technology.  Catalyst grants are for capital 
  1.12  expenditures related to providing Internet access to residences 
  1.13  and businesses using either traditional fiber optic cable or 
  1.14  wireless technology.  Eligible capital expenditures include 
  1.15  equipment and construction costs, but do not include the costs 
  1.16  of planning, engineering, or preliminary design.  The 
  1.17  commissioner shall award catalyst grants according to a 
  1.18  competitive grant process and shall create criteria for the 
  1.19  award of grants.  These criteria shall include a preference for 
  1.20  projects that will provide both business and residential 
  1.21  Internet access, provided that a project is presumed to provide 
  1.22  business access only if it will enable access of at least 512 
  1.23  kilobytes per second.  The maximum catalyst grant for any 
  1.24  project is $250,000 or 25 percent of the eligible capital 
  1.25  expenditures, whichever is less.  This is a one-time 
  2.1   appropriation and is not added to the agency's budget base.