ARTICLE
7
RELATING TO
SECTION 1. Chapter 16-61 of the General Laws entitled
"Public Telecommunications
Authority" is hereby
repealed in its entirety:
16-61-1.
Definitions. -- For the purposes of
this chapter, unless indicated by the context,
the following words and terms shall have the following
meanings:
(1) "Advisory
commission" means the
telecommunications.
(2) "Authority"
means the
(3)
"Commission" means the
telecommunications.
(4) "Fiscal
year" shall coincide with that period utilized by the state, i.e. from
July 1 to
the next succeeding June 30.
(5) "Public
broadcasting" includes all aspects of noncommercial radio and television,
open and closed circuit, including the production and
dissemination of public and community
affairs, civil defense, educational, cultural, and
instructional information to the public at large
within the state.
(6) "Public
broadcasting telecommunications" includes all public broadcasting services
relating to public broadcasting including intercommunications,
closed circuit instructional
television fixed service (ITFS), and other services requiring
federal communications commission
spectrum allocations for transmission of electrical impulses
that specifically and integrally relate
to
encompass microwave interconnection, aural and video TV
transmission, multiplexing, laser
beam utilization, satellite interconnection systems, cable
systems, and other appropriate
technological devices.
16-61-2.
Authority established. -- (a) There is
created a public telecommunications
authority, sometimes referred to as the "authority",
which shall be and is constituted a public
corporation, empowered to sue and be sued in its own name, to
have a corporate seal, and to
exercise all the powers, in addition to those specifically
enumerated in this chapter, usually
appertaining to public corporations entrusted with control of
public telecommunications property
and functions. The authority shall exercise the authority
previously vested in the board of regents
for education with relation to educational television.
The authority shall be protected from sudden
changes in membership and reversal of policy by having
staggered terms for its public members.
Upon its organization the authority shall be invested
with the legal title (in trust for the state) to
all licenses and property, real and personal, now owned
by and/or under the control or in custody
of the board of regents for education for the use of
publicly owned educational television.
(b) The authority is
empowered to hold and operate that property in trust for the state, and
to acquire, hold, and dispose of that property and other
like property as deemed necessary for the
execution of its corporate purposes. The authority is made
successor to all powers, rights, duties,
and privileges formerly belonging to the board of regents
for education pertaining to publicly
owned educational television.
16-61-3.
Membership of authority. -- (a) The authority shall consist of nine (9)
members as follows: seven (7) public members appointed
pursuant to the terms of § 16-61-4, the
chairperson of the board of regents for elementary and secondary
education or his or her designee
who shall serve as a non-voting ex-officio member, and
the chairperson of the board of governors
for higher education or his or her designee who shall
serve as a non-voting ex-officio member.
The governor shall designate one of the public members
as chairperson of the authority.
(b)
Four (4) voting members of the committee shall constitute a quorum. A majority
vote
of those present and voting shall be required for
action.
(c) No one shall be
eligible for appointment unless he or she is a resident of this state.
16-61-4.
Appointment of public members – Renewal. --
(a) The governor shall with
the advice and consent of the senate establish the
authority by appointing seven (7) members to
serve staggered terms. The appointments shall be made for
terms of three (3) years commencing
on February lst in the year of
appointment and ending on January 31st in the third (3rd) year after
this. Any vacancy among the public members of the
authority shall be filled by appointment of
the governor, subject to the advice and consent of the
senate, for the remainder of the unexpired
term. In the selection and appointment of members of the
authority, the governor shall seek
persons who best serve the entire needs of the state. Public
members shall not be appointed for
more than two (2) successive three (3) year terms each;
provided, that this limitation shall not
apply to that person designated as chairperson by the
governor who may be a member so long as
he or she shall serve as chairperson. The authority may
elect from among its members such other
officers as they deem necessary.
(b) Members of the
board shall be removable by the governor pursuant to the provisions
of § 36-1-7 of the general laws and for cause only, and
removal solely for partisan or personal
reasons unrelated to capacity or fitness for the office shall
be unlawful.
16-61-5.
Removal of public members. -- Public
members of the authority shall be
removable by the governor for cause only, and removal solely
for partisan or personal reasons
unrelated to capacity or fitness for the office shall be
unlawful. No removal shall be made for any
cause except after ten (10) days' notice in writing of
specific charges, with opportunity for the
member to be present in person and with counsel at a public
hearing before the governor, to
introduce witnesses and documentary evidence in his or her own
defense, and to confront and
cross-examine adversary witnesses; and appeal shall lie to the
superior court from the governor's
determination.
16-61-6.
Powers and duties of authority. --
(a) The authority shall be empowered to:
(1) Adopt and amend
and repeal suitable bylaws for the management of its affairs;
(2) Adopt and use the
official seal and alter it at its pleasure;
(3) Maintain an office at any place or places within the state
that it may designate;
(4) Establish, own,
and operate noncommercial educational television or radio
broadcasting stations, one or more public broadcasting and public
broadcasting
telecommunications networks or systems, and interconnection and program
production facilities;
(5) Apply for,
receive, and hold any authorizations and licenses and assignments and
reassignments of channels from the federal communications
commission (FCC) as may be
necessary to conduct its operations; and prepare and file and
prosecute before the FCC all
applications, reports, or other documents or requests for
authorization of any type necessary or
appropriate to achieve the authorized purposes of the authority;
(6) Provide
coordination and information on matters relating to public broadcasting
telecommunications among the agencies of the state government, all
facets of
public education and individual associations, and
institutions working in these fields both within
and without the state;
(7) Establish state
wide equipment compatibility policies and determine the method of
interconnection to be employed within the state's public broadcasting
system;
(8) Assume
responsibility for establishing broad programming philosophy which will
encourage diversity, quality, and excellence of programming
which is released via its facilities.
The general manager shall be responsible for
implementing programming policy in accordance
with the rules and regulations of the federal
communications commission;
(9) Provide
appropriate advisory assistance to other agencies of the state and local and
regional groups regarding public broadcasting techniques,
planning, budgeting, and related
issues;
(10) Make to the
governor and the legislature any recommendations that the authority
deems necessary with regard to appropriations relating to
public broadcasting and public
broadcasting telecommunications equipment and facilities;
(11) Subject to the
approval of the governor, receive and administer gifts, contributions,
and funds from public and private sources to be expended
for public broadcasting and public
broadcasting telecommunications operations, facilities, and
programming consistent with
furthering the purposes of the authority;
(12) Cooperate with
federal agencies for the purpose of obtaining matching and other
federal funds and providing public broadcasting and public
broadcasting telecommunications
facilities throughout the state and to make any reports that may
be required of the state. The
authority shall provide appropriate advisory assistance to
local school districts and others on these
matters;
(13) Contract with
program production organizations, individuals, and noncommercial
educational television and radio stations within and without the
state to produce or to procure
educational television or radio programs for use by noncommercial
stations within the state;
(14) Establish and
maintain a library and archives of educational television and radio
programs and related materials, disseminate information about
those programs and make suitable
arrangements for the use of the programs and materials by
colleges, universities, schools, and
noncommercial television and radio stations;
(15) Conduct
explorations, research, demonstrations, or training in matters related to
public broadcasting and public broadcasting
telecommunications in the state, directly or through
contracts with appropriate agencies, organizations, or
individuals, or by grants to nonprofit,
noncommercial organizations such as colleges, universities,
schools, and noncommercial
television and radio stations;
(16) Acquire, subject
to the provisions of the general laws, through lease, purchase, or
other means, real and other property and to hold and use
this property for public broadcasting and
public broadcasting telecommunications purposes;
(17) Contract,
subject to the provisions of the general laws, for the construction, repair,
maintenance, and operations of public broadcasting and public
broadcasting telecommunications
facilities including program production center, stations, and
interconnection facilities;
(18) Make
arrangements, where appropriate, with companies or other agencies and
institutions operating suitable interconnection facilities (e.g.,
landlines or satellites);
(19) Be empowered to
set and collect reasonable fees for services provided through
contracts with agencies, companies, organizations, and
individuals;
(20) Make reasonable
rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
(21) Manage and
operate public, education and government (PEG) access studios in
compliance with rules promulgated by the division of public
utilities and carriers.
(22) To conduct a
training course for newly appointed and qualified members within six
(6) months of their qualification
or designation. The course shall be developed by the chair of the
authority, approved by the authority, and conducted by the
chair of the authority. The authority
may approve the use of any authority or staff members or other
individuals to assist with training.
The training course shall include instruction in the
following areas: the provisions of chapters 42-
46, 36-14, and 38-2; and the
committee's rules and regulations. The director of the department of
administration shall, within ninety (90) days of the effective date
of this act [March 29, 2006],
prepare and disseminate training materials relating to the
provisions of chapters 42-46, 36-14, and
38-2.
(b) In carrying out
its powers and duties under this section, the authority shall be
empowered to enter into contracts or agreements with any
nonprofit entity for the operations in
whole or in part of the public telecommunications functions
assigned to it by this chapter.
16-61-6.2.
Acquisition of public education and government television studios and
equipment. --
(a) No later than December 31, 2006, the division of public utilities and
carriers
(the Division) shall
promulgate rules to allow the transition of management of PEG access
television including responsibility for programming the three
(3) statewide interconnect channels,
and managing interconnect playback in conjunction with
its management of PEG playback, from
current cable television certificate holders to the
authority or its designee.
(b) Existing
certificate holders may transfer to the
telecommunications authority or its designee the ownership of PEG access
studio and playback
equipment, and statewide interconnect playback equipment,
currently in existing public access
studios and playback facilities.
(c) The
this equipment from existing certificate holders for the
book value of the equipment based on the
effective date of the transition.
(d) The
the leases for public access studios in those facilities
where existing certificate holders currently
lease space. Studios in buildings owned by existing
certificate holders shall be leased by the
Rhode Island public telecommunications authority or its designee
at fair market value subject to
the approval of the division. Employees of existing
certificate holders working in public access
facilities shall become employees of the
designee on the effective date of the transition.
(e) An existing cable
television certificate holder may, at its sole discretion, elect to
continue to manage PEG access studios within its service area.
If an existing cable television
certificate holder does elect to continue to operate and manage
PEG access studios, it may at any
time subsequently elect not to operate PEG access studios
and implement the provisions of this
section.
16-61-7.
General manager. -- The authority may
appoint and determine the
compensation of a general manager. The general manager shall
devote his or her entire time to
the performance of his or her duties and shall hold
office at the pleasure of the authority.
16-61-8.
Duties of the general manager. – The
general manager shall have any duties
that are defined in this section and in this title and any
other additional duties that may be
determined by the authority, and shall perform any other duties
that may be vested in the general
manager by law. In addition to the general supervision of
public telecommunications, it shall be
the duty of the general manager to:
(1) Serve as
secretary of the authority and maintain custody of its official seal.
(2) Subject to the
approval of the authority, appoint any assistants and employees as the
authority shall deem necessary, and prescribe their powers and
duties.
(3) Present annually
to the authority for their approval or modification a budget
encompassing both operating and capital development areas.
(4) Assist the
authority in preparing and maintaining a master plan for public
telecommunications in the state.
16-61-8.1.
Longevity payments – Nonclassified employees.
-- (a) Non-classified
employees of the
employees already receiving longevity increases, shall be entitled
to a longevity payment in the
amount of five percent (5%) of base salary after ten (10)
years of service and increasing in a total
of ten percent (10%) of base salary after twenty (20)
years of service. The provisions of this
section shall apply only to employees under the grade of
nineteen (19). The longevity payments
shall not be included in base salary.
(b) The
telecommunications authority is authorized to promulgate regulations
implementing the provisions of this section.
(c) Beginning on July
1, 2011, notwithstanding any rule, regulation, or provision of the
public laws or general laws to the contrary, there shall be
no further longevity increases for
employees of the
employees with longevity provisions pursuant to a collective
bargaining agreement in effect on
June 1, 2011, longevity increases shall cease
beginning on July 1, 2011 or beginning upon the
expiration of the applicable collective bargaining agreement,
whichever occurs later. To the
extent an employee has previously accrued longevity
payments, the amount of the longevity
payment earned by the employee for the last pay period in
June, 2011 shall be added to the
employee's base salary as of June 30, 2011, or in the case of an
employee with longevity
provisions pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement in
effect on June 1, 2011, the amount of
the longevity payment earned by the employee for the
latter of the last pay period in June or the
last pay period prior to the expiration of the applicable
collective bargaining agreement shall be
added to the employee's base salary as of June 30, 2011 or
upon the expiration of the applicable
collective bargaining agreement, whichever occurs later.
16-61-9. Meaning of terms in existing law. -- When in
any law, resolution, document,
record, instrument, proceeding or other place the words
"board of education," "state board of
education," or "board of regents for education"
as they shall apply to educational television shall
appear, they shall be construed to mean the
16-61-10. Encumbering of assets. -- The authority shall
have no power to issue bonds,
notes, or other obligations, or to mortgage, pledge, or
encumber the assets of the authority or any
of its income; and no part of the income or the assets
of the authority shall inure to the benefit of
any director, officer, employee, or any other individual,
except as may be provided as salary or
reasonable compensation for services.
16-61-11.
Political activities prohibited. -- The authority shall be
prohibited from
supporting or opposing any political party or candidate for
public office, elective or otherwise,
and from attempting to influence the enactment of
legislation. The authority shall not be
precluded from promoting full discussions of public issues
pursuant to rules and regulations that
the authority may promulgate.
16-61-12.
Annual report. -- Within ninety (90)
days after the end of each fiscal year, the
authority shall approve and submit an annual report to the
governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives, the president of the senate, and secretary of state
of its activities during that fiscal
year. The report shall provide: an operating statement
summarizing meetings or hearings held,
including meeting minutes, subjects addressed, decisions
rendered, rules or regulations
promulgated, studies conducted, policies and plans developed,
approved or modified, and
programs administered or initiated; a consolidated financial
statement of all funds received and
expended including the source of the funds, a listing of any
staff supported by these funds and a
summary of any clerical, administrative or technical support
received; a summary of performance
during the previous fiscal year including accomplishments,
shortcomings and remedies; a
synopsis of hearings, complaints, suspensions or other legal
matters related to the authority; a
summary of any training courses held pursuant to the
provisions of this chapter; a briefing on
anticipated activities in the upcoming fiscal year; and findings
and recommendations for
improvements. The authority shall cause an audit of its books and
accounts, including the records
pertaining to any entity created at the direction and/or under
the auspices of the authority, to be
made at least once each fiscal year by the auditor
general. The report shall be posted
electronically on the general assembly's and secretary of state's
websites as prescribed in § 42-20-
8.2. The director of the department of administration
shall be responsible for the enforcement of
this provision.
16-61-13.
Annual appropriation. -- The general
assembly shall annually appropriate
any sums as it deems necessary for the support and
maintenance of public telecommunications in
the state, and the state controller is authorized and
directed to draw his or her orders upon the
general treasurer for the payment of those appropriations or
so much of this sum as may be
necessary for the purposes appropriated, upon the receipt by
the controller of properly
authenticated vouchers, as the authority may by rule provide.
16-61-14.
Liberal construction of chapter required. -- This chapter shall
be construed
liberally in aid of its declared purposes.
16-61-15.
Severability. -- If any provision of
this chapter or of any rule or regulation
made under this chapter, or its application to any person
or circumstance, is held invalid by acourt
of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the chapter,
rule, or regulation and the application of
that provision to other persons or circumstances shall not
be affected by theinvalidity. The
invalidity of any section or sections or parts of any section or
sections shall not affect the validity
of the remainder of the chapter.
SECTION 2. Sections 16-28-4, 16-28-5 and 16-28-6 of the
General Laws in Chapter 16-
28 entitled
"Educational Television" are hereby repealed.
16-28-4.
Advisory commission – Appointment and qualification of members.
-- (a)
There is created for the purposes of this chapter the
telecommunications consisting of not less than twenty-five (25) members
who shall be appointed
by the governor as provided in this section. The members
of the commission shall serve three (3)
year terms or until their successors have been appointed
and duly qualified; provided, upon the
initial appointment of members to the commission and upon any
expansion of the membership of
the commission, the governor shall appoint one third
(1/3) of the members to one year terms, one
third (1/3) of the members to two (2) year terms, and the remainder
of the members to three (3)
year terms.
(b) The governor
shall appoint the chairperson of the commission who shall serve at the
governor's pleasure.
(2) Appointment shall
be made in February of each year by the governor.
(c) Vacancies on the
commission may be filled by the governor at any time and shall be
for the remainder of the unexpired term of the vacancy.
(d) The membership of
the commission shall include one member of each of the counties
of the state and insofar as possible be broadly
representative of the different educational, cultural,
professional, religious, and social interests of the state.
(e) The advisory
commission, among other matters as may be appropriate, is authorized
and empowered:
(1) To advise the
general manager respecting his powers pursuant to § 16-61-7, if the
Rhode Island public telecommunications authority has appointed a
general manager; if the
authority has entered into a contract or agreement with a
nonprofit entity for the operation of
public telecommunications functions pursuant to § 16-61-6,
then the advisory committee shall
advise the entity concerning educational television
programming.
(2) To do any other
things as may be necessary to assist the general manager in carrying
out the powers expressly provided for in § 16-61-7.
(f)
Additionally, the advisory commission shall:
(1)
Maintain minutes of all meetings;
(2)
Delineate its goals and responsibilities;
(3)
Provide forums at state educational institutions on educational television;
(4)
Provide for promotional activities in educational television;
(5)
Have media publicity on educational television;
(6)
Continue efforts to obtain funding both public and private and establishment of
a
transmitter needed for the operation of the station;
(7)
Provide twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per meeting up to three hundred dollars
($300),
annually, as compensation for public members for attendance at
meetings and travel expenses;
(8)
Provide a written annual report to the
authority of its activities.
16-28-5.
Organization and functions of advisory commission – Expenses.
-- (a) The
governor shall designate one of the members of the advisory
commission as chairperson. The
commission shall adopt rules for its own procedure and appoint
any other officers from its
members as it deems fit.
(b) The commission
shall have no administrative power but shall confer at regular
intervals and cooperate with, advise, and make recommendations
to the board of regents for
elementary and secondary education in the administration of this
chapter.
(c) It shall be the
duty of the board to consult with the advisory commission on matters
relating to the operation of the educational television
station, providing, that ultimate policy
decisions shall rest with the board.
(d) The members of
the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be
entitled to receive reimbursement for reasonable actual and
necessary expenses incurred in
performance of their duties.
16-28-6.
Appropriations and disbursements. --
The general assembly shall annually
appropriate a sum sufficient to carry out the purposes of this
chapter; and the state controller is
authorized and directed to draw his or her orders upon the
general treasurer for the payment of the
sum, or so much of a sum as may be required, from time
to time, upon the receipt by the
controller of properly authenticated vouchers.
SECTION 3. Section 17-23-18 of the General Laws in Chapter
17-23 entitled "Election
Offenses" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
17-23-18.
Political advertising from official budgets prohibited. -- (a) No
elected
official shall permit the expenditure of public funds from any
official budget under his or her
authority for any publication, advertisement, broadcast, or
telecast of his or her photograph,
voice, or other likeness to be broadcast or distributed to
the public during the one hundred and
twenty (120) days preceding any primary or general election
in which he or she is a candidate.
(b)
This section shall not be construed to prohibit an official from appearing on
regular
capitol television programming operated by the general
assembly or on television stations
operated by the the
Foundation
during the period of time or programming of regular or special meetings of city
or
town councils or any local governmental board, agency or
other entity.
SECTION 4. Section 17-25-30 of the General Laws in Chapter
17-25 entitled "Rhode
follows:
17-25-30.
Public financing of election campaigns – Compliance benefits.
– (1)
Entitled to an additional benefit of free time on
community antenna television to be allocated
pursuant to rules determined by the administrator for the
division of public utilities. During all
allocated free time, the candidate shall personally appear and
present the message of the
advertisement; provided, however, the content of all television
time shall include captioning for
the deaf and hard of hearing and the content of all radio
time must be available in a written or
text format at the time of request; and
(2) Entitled to an
additional benefit of free time on any public broadcasting station
operating under the jurisdiction of the public telecommunications
authority PBS
foundation pursuant to rules determined by the authority federal
communications commission
(FCC). During
all allocated free time, the candidate shall personally appear and personally
present the message of the advertisement; provided, however,
the content of all television time
shall include captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing
and the content of all radio time must be
available in a written or text format at the time of request.
SECTION 5. Section 22-13-9 of the General Laws in Chapter
22-13 entitled "Auditor
General" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
22-13-9. Access to
executive sessions of a public agency – Access to records –
Disclosure by the auditor
general. -- (a) Whenever a public agency
goes into executive session,
the auditor general or his or her designated
representative shall be permitted to attend the
executive session or if the auditor general or his or her
designee is not in attendance at the
executive session, the auditor general or his or her designee,
upon written request, shall be
furnished with copies of all data or materials furnished to the
members of the public agency at the
executive session. If the auditor general or his or her
designee attends the executive session, the
auditor general shall be furnished the same data in the same
form and at the same time as
members of the public agency.
(b)
Within three (3) working days of a written request by the auditor general, the
public
agency shall furnish a copy, whether approved by the agency
or not, of the minutes of any
meeting, including any executive session of the public
agency.
(c) The
auditor general shall have full and unlimited access to any and all records of
any
public agency, in whatever form or mode the records may be,
unless the auditor general's access
to the records is specifically prohibited or limited by
federal or state law. In no case shall any
confidentiality provisions of state law be construed to restrict the
auditor general's access to the
records; provided, the auditor general's access to any
confidential data shall not in any way
change the confidential nature of the data obtained. Where
an audit or investigative finding
emanates from confidential data, specific confidential
information will not be made public. The
records shall include those in the immediate possession of a
public agency as well as records
which the agency itself has a right to. In the event of a
dispute between the agency involved and
the auditor general as to whether or not the data
involved are confidential by law, the matter will
be referred to the attorney general for resolution.
(d)(1) If in the
course of an executive session any fact comes to the attention of the auditor
general or his or her designated representative, which in his
or her judgment constitutes an
impropriety, irregularity, or illegal transaction, or points to
the onset of an impropriety or illegal
transaction, then the auditor general shall disclose that
information to the joint committee on
legislative services, the director of administration, and the
chairperson of the public agency
involved. Where the facts or the data upon which the facts are
based are deemed confidential
pursuant to the provisions of federal or state law, the
auditor general's access to the information
shall not in any way change the confidential nature of the
data obtained.
(2) In the event of a
dispute between the agency involved and the auditor general as to
whether or not the data involved are confidential by law, the
matter will be referred to the
attorney general for resolution.
(e) The auditor general
or his or her designated representative shall be immune from any
liability to any party for claims arising out of disclosure
authorized by this section.
(f) For the purposes of
this section, the phrase "public agency" shall include the
following: the
authority, the
facilities corporation, the
mortgage finance corporation, the
public transit authority, the
assistance authority, the
commission, Rhode
Island public telecommunications authority,
the convention center authority,
channel 36 foundation,
their successors and assigns, and any other body corporate and politic
which has been or which is subsequently created or
established within this state.
SECTION 6. Chapter 39-19 of the General Laws entitled
"Community Antenna
Television Systems" is
hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:
39-19-6.1.
Public education and government television studios and equipment.
-- (a)
The division shall be empowered to manage and operate
public, education and government (PEG)
access television in
holder may, at its sole discretion, and for as long as it
desires to do so, elect to continue to
manage a PEG access studio within its service area.
(b) In carrying out
the purposes of this section, the division may designate another entity,
whether public or private, to actually manage the day-to-day
operations of any PEG access
studios not being actively managed and operated by an
existing cable television certificate holder.
These day-to-day operations shall include the
responsibility of programming statewide
interconnect channels, and managing interconnect playback in
conjunction with the management
of PEG playback.
(c) The division
shall fund the operations authorized under this section through PEG
access and interconnect fees, which shall be established by
the division following public hearing
and notice to the state’s cable television certificate
holders. Such fees shall be paid by the state’s
cable television certificate holders, who may in turn pass
through such expenses to their
respective subscribers in accordance with federal law.
(d) In furtherance of
exercising this authority, the division shall promulgate such
reasonable rules and regulations that the division deems
necessary to carry out its responsibilities.
SECTION 7. This article shall take effect as of July 1,
2013.