A proposal being considered in the legislative session would re-establish Florida’s moribund Digital Divide Council. The bills are HB 1421 by Rep. Ronald Brisé (D-108) and its identical companion, SB 2304 by Sen. Frederica Wilson (D-33).

The Digital Divide Council was established by the Legislature in 2001 within the State Technology Office. The Council was authorized to design and implement programs aimed at increasing access to information technology by at-risk individuals and members of underserved communities. However, the State Technology Office was de-funded in 2005, and therefore the Digital Divide Council has been out of business since then.

HB 1421 / SB 2304 would move the Digital Divide Council to the Department of Education. The bills would require the Council to hold its first meeting by August 1, 2007, and to hold meetings at least every 90 days thereafter. The bills would also change the membership of the Council, and remove the requirement that the Council’s programs initially be implemented as pilot programs.

The House version was referred to the Schools & Learning Council and the Policy & Budget Council. The Schools & Learning Council referred to the bill to its Committee on Education Innovation & Career Preparation, which passed the bill on March 27. If the full Schools & Learning Council and the Policy & Budget Council approve the bill, it will head to the floor for a vote by the full House.

The Senate bill has been referred to a number of committees and has so far gone nowhere.

There is another set of bills pending that relate to another repercussion of the demise of State Technology Office. Specifically, since that office no longer exists, legislators are considering how to establish a new agency to oversee the state’s IT. I’ll discuss those bills in the future — namely, as soon as I make sense of them, because there’s a mess of legislative action happening there.

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