1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to telecommunications; appropriating money 
  1.3             for connected communities projects. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  [APPROPRIATION; CONNECTED COMMUNITIES GRANTS.] 
  1.6      $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  1.7   commissioner of trade and economic development for grants to 
  1.8   local units of government to apply advanced telecommunications 
  1.9   technology to create connected communities.  Grant recipients 
  1.10  may include counties, statutory cities, home rule charter 
  1.11  cities, towns, or a group of two or more counties, cities, or 
  1.12  towns that have entered into a joint powers agreement for 
  1.13  purposes related to economic or community development.  Grant 
  1.14  recipients must provide a one-to-one match in cash from nonstate 
  1.15  sources.  Funds may be used for software, intranet development, 
  1.16  hardware, and other purposes consistent with the objective of 
  1.17  assisting communities in connecting business, government, 
  1.18  schools, health care, individuals, and other parts of the 
  1.19  community using advanced technology, but funds may not be used 
  1.20  to pay for salaries or benefits for employees of grant 
  1.21  recipients.  The commissioner shall use a competitive grant 
  1.22  process to allocate funds under this section, and shall require 
  1.23  all applicants for grants to submit a connected communities plan 
  1.24  that the applicant intends to follow in spending the grant 
  2.1   funds.  This appropriation is available until June 30, 2003.