The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
(Cite as: 30 V.S.A. § 8089)
-
§ 8089. Annual report
(a) Notwithstanding 2 V.S.A. § 20(d), on or before January 15 of each year, the Board shall submit a report of its activities
pursuant to this chapter for the preceding year to the Senate Committees on Finance
and on Natural Resources and Energy, the House Committee on Environment and Energy,
and the Joint Information Technology Oversight Committee. The report shall include
an operating and financial statement covering the Board’s operations during the year,
including a summary of all grant awards and contracts and agreements entered into
by the Board. In addition, the report shall include a description of the progress
each start-up communications union district has made in achieving long-term financial
sustainability that is not dependent upon public funding, an update on its efforts
to secure additional federal funds for broadband deployment, and progress made towards
meeting the State’s goal of ensuring every E-911 location has access to broadband
capable of delivering a minimum of 100 Mbps symmetrical service as required in subdivision 202c(b)(10) of this title.
(b) As part of its first annual report, the Board shall include recommended legislation
for policies and programs not authorized under this chapter but consistent with its
purpose or for any other policies and programs it deems appropriate. The report shall
include recommendations concerning increased access to and use of fiber-optic networks
owned by the State or by an electric distribution utility in furtherance of the goals
of this chapter. In addition, and with input from relevant stakeholders, the Board
shall make recommendations on whether and to what extent authorized expenditures under
the Fund should be expanded to include:
(1) funding for equipment replacement in the Department of Libraries’ FiberConnect Network;
(2) funding for building-wide Wi-Fi installations at multi-unit affordable housing owned
by nonprofits and housing authorities for the purpose of providing free broadband
service to the residents thereof;
(3) funding for digital inclusion efforts, such as subsidized customer equipment installations
and broadband service, grants for long-term affordability planning, and outreach and
digital literacy training;
(4) funding for co-worker spaces;
(5) additional funding for communications workforce development initiatives; and
(6) funding for any other broadband programs or initiatives. (Added 2021, No. 71, § 2, eff. June 8, 2021.)