By Hernandez                                          H.B. No. 2694
       74R6618 KKA-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the creation of the Education Information Highway Task
    1-3  Force.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 14, Education Code, is
    1-6  amended by adding Section 14.0452 to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 14.0452.  EDUCATION INFORMATION HIGHWAY TASK FORCE.  (a)
    1-8  The Education Information Highway Task Force shall develop goals,
    1-9  strategies, objectives, and implementation plans relating to:
   1-10              (1)  connecting public education institutions to voice,
   1-11  data, and video telecommunications services; and
   1-12              (2)  using those services to improve educational
   1-13  services statewide.
   1-14        (b)  The comptroller or the comptroller's designated
   1-15  representative is the presiding officer of the task force.  The
   1-16  governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
   1-17  representatives, the chairman of the Public Utility Commission of
   1-18  Texas, the commissioner of education, the presiding officer of the
   1-19  governing board of the Department of Information Resources, and the
   1-20  chairman of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, or their
   1-21  respective designees, are members of the task force.  Additionally,
   1-22  the comptroller may appoint not more than three persons from the
   1-23  business community or telecommunications industry to serve on the
   1-24  task force.
    2-1        (c)  The task force shall:
    2-2              (1)  develop and advise the legislature of a vision for
    2-3  the evolution and improvement of this state's telecommunications
    2-4  infrastructure and its educational applications; and
    2-5              (2)  advise the legislature on:
    2-6                    (A)  the impact of current and proposed federal
    2-7  and state legislation on this state's telecommunications
    2-8  infrastructure and its educational applications;
    2-9                    (B)  the need for additional state legislation;
   2-10                    (C)  the appropriate roles of the private and
   2-11  public sectors in developing this state's telecommunications
   2-12  infrastructure for educational purposes;
   2-13                    (D)  strategies for maximizing the use of this
   2-14  state's telecommunications infrastructure by public schools,
   2-15  institutions of higher education, state agencies, and other public
   2-16  institutions;
   2-17                    (E)  strategies for maximizing the benefits of
   2-18  developing this state's telecommunications infrastructure for
   2-19  educational purposes, as measured by job creation, economic growth,
   2-20  increased productivity, and enhanced quality of life;
   2-21                    (F)  strategies for maximizing the
   2-22  interconnection and compatibility of communications networks;
   2-23                    (G)  strategies for insuring universal access;
   2-24  and
   2-25                    (H)  strategies for adequately addressing
   2-26  privacy, security, and copyright issues.
   2-27        (d)  Not later than May 1, 1996, the task force shall report
    3-1  its findings and recommendations to the legislature.
    3-2        (e)  The task force may, as necessary, establish interagency
    3-3  working groups and invite experts to submit information.  The task
    3-4  force may establish an interagency working group for the purpose of
    3-5  developing strategies for maximizing federal funding for the
    3-6  development of a telecommunications infrastructure for educational
    3-7  purposes.
    3-8        (f)  Each state agency shall, to the extent permitted by law,
    3-9  provide the task force with any aid or information the task force
   3-10  requires for the purpose of carrying out the task force's
   3-11  functions.
   3-12        (g)  The agency a member represents or the agency that
   3-13  appointed a member is responsible for the expenses of a member's
   3-14  service on the task force.  Members of the task force are not
   3-15  entitled to additional compensation for serving on the task force.
   3-16        (h)  This section expires September 1, 1997.
   3-17        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   3-18        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-19  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-20  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-21  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-22  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.