(1) The division shall perform the following functions: (a) Assist the governor in coordinating the activities and services of those departments and agencies of the state having relationships with units of local government in order to provide more effective services to units of local government and to simplify procedures with respect thereto; (b) Advise the governor and the general assembly of the problems of local government; (c) Serve as a clearing house, for the benefit of local government, of information relating to the common problems of local government and of state and federal services available to assist in the solution of those problems; (d) Refer local government to appropriate departments and agencies of the state and federal government for advice, assistance, and available services in connection with specific problems; (e) Perform such research as is necessary to carry out the functions of the division, including the study of local government, intergovernmental relations, the structure and powers of local government units and their relationships to each other, local government finance, services, management, and functions; (f) Encourage and when so requested assist cooperative efforts among the officials of local government units toward the solution of common problems; (g) Encourage and cooperate in training institutes, conferences, and programs for local government officials and employees; (h) Publish an annual compendium of local government fiscal data beginning with calendar year 1968 and publish from time to time other statistical and research reports of interest to local government, the general assembly, and the general public; (i) Upon request by local government officials, provide technical assistance in defining their local government problems and developing solutions thereof; (j) Provide technical assistance to district attorneys, including, but not limited to, coordinating educational grants; (k) Repealed. (l) Administer emergency services provided by the state; (m) (I) Annually distribute to each local governmental entity informational materials relating to federal student loan repayment programs and student loan forgiveness programs, including updated materials, received from the department of personnel pursuant to section 24-5- 102. The division may distribute the informational materials to each local governmental entity through an e-mail or as part of a mailing or regular communication to local governmental entities. The division shall encourage each local governmental entity to annually distribute the informational materials, including any updated materials, to each employee of the local governmental entity, and to include the informational materials as part of the local governmental entity's new employee orientation process. (II) For purposes of subsection (1)(m)(I) of this section, a "local governmental entity" means a city, county, city and county, special district, or other unit of local government for which the division has received information pursuant to section 24-32-116. (n) Submit to the Colorado broadband office created in section 24-37.5-903 (1) for the broadband office's review and recommendations a copy of each application that the division receives in which an applicant seeks grant money for broadband planning or infrastructure, which grant the division awards from the interconnectivity grant program fund. The Colorado broadband office shall review each application submitted and provide the division its recommendations regarding the application as soon as practicable but no later than thirty days after the division has furnished a copy of the application to the Colorado broadband office. (2) No later than July 1, 2015, the division shall formally announce, on its website and by letter to the state's local governments, an initiative from the local government mineral impact fund created in section 34-63-102 (5), C.R.S., or the local government severance tax fund created in section 39-29-110, C.R.S., of one million dollars per year for three years for grant funding to local governments for planning, analyses, public engagement, and coordination and collaboration with federal land managers and stakeholders, or for similar or related local government processes needed by local governments for engagement in federal land management decision-making. (3) (a) The division of local government in the department of local affairs shall contract with a nationally recognized research and consulting entity to study future prison bed needs in Colorado. While conducting the study, the entity shall solicit input from local communities and other interested parties or issue experts, including but not limited to public safety experts, victim's advocates, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and community reentry providers. (b) The division shall convene an advisory committee that contains three representatives of local governments, of which at least two must be county commissioners, selected by the executive director, from each county that has a private prison to consult with the entity during the study. The study must include: (I) An analysis of the economic and other impacts that potential prison closure would have on local governments and the wider community and recommendations on strategies to diversify the local economy; (II) A utilization analysis of all state and privately operated facilities and all other facilities that can be used for housing inmates; (III) An analysis of the feasibility of the department to obtain privately owned facilities or utilize unused state-owned buildings in Colorado. (c) Prior to completing the study, the division, in conjunction with the county commissioners, shall provide notice and conduct public hearings in the counties in which private prisons are located to allow direct public testimony and input, which the department shall include in the final report. (d) The division of local government in the department of local affairs shall report the study to the judiciary committees of the senate and house of representatives, or any successor committees, during the committees' hearings held during the 2021 session of the general assembly under the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act", part 2 of article 7 of title 2. (4) The division shall administer the local government affordable housing development incentives grant program created in section 24-32-130 (2) and the local government planning grant program created in section 24-32-130 (5). (5) The division shall consult with the division of housing created in section 24-32-704 in connection with the creation and administration of the housing toolkit program in accordance with section 24-32-721.7 (2)(a). (6) The division shall consult with the creative industries division within the Colorado office of economic development created in section 24-48.5-301 in connection with the administration of the community revitalization grant program in accordance with section 24- 48.5-317. (7) (a) As part of the division's work to improve broadband service to its local government constituents, the division shall implement the interconnectivity grant program, which is hereby created, to award grant money to local governments for proposed projects that: (I) Engage in regional planning among multiple local governments to: (A) Identify regional broadband infrastructure needs; (B) Determine optimal regional configurations of broadband infrastructure; and (C) Identify potential public-private partnerships to achieve optimal regional broadband deployment; or (II) Provide or enhance the network connection between communities, including the interconnection between community anchor institutions. (b) A recipient of money under the grant program: (I) Shall not use the money to deploy last-mile broadband infrastructure or to provide broadband internet service as defined in section 40-15-102 (3.5); except that an Indian tribe or nation awarded grant money may use the grant money to deploy last-mile broadband infrastructure; and (II) Is encouraged to contract with the owner of: (A) Any existing broadband infrastructure located in the area to be served by the recipient's proposed project to lease any excess capacity or obtain a right-of-way from the owner in order to attach the recipient's own broadband facilities in the right-of-way; or (B) Any existing electric easement, as that term is defined in section 40-15-601 (5), located in the area to be served by the recipient's proposed project to lease any excess capacity or install a broadband facility in the electric easement pursuant to part 6 of article 15 of title 40. (c) The interconnectivity grant program fund is hereby created in the state treasury and consists of money the state received from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund created in the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", Pub.L. 117-2; money transferred to the fund from the ARPA refinance state money cash fund pursuant to section 24-75-226.5; and any money that the general assembly may appropriate to the fund. Within three days after June 28, 2021, the state treasurer shall transfer five million dollars from the economic recovery and relief cash fund created in section 24-75-228 (2)(a) to the fund for use by the division for the purpose of reviewing and awarding grants under the grant program. The money in the fund is subject to appropriation by the general assembly. (d) With respect to grants awarded from money transferred to the interconnectivity grant program fund from the economic recovery and relief cash fund created in section 24-75-228 (2)(a) or from the ARPA refinance state money cash fund created in section 24-75-226.5, grants may only be awarded for broadband projects that, pursuant to treasury department interim regulations implementing the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", Pub.L. 117-2, provide broadband infrastructure that is designed to provide service to unserved or underserved households and businesses and that is designed to, upon completion: (I) Reliably meet or exceed symmetrical one hundred megabits per second download and upload speeds; or (II) In cases where it is not practicable, because of the excessive cost of the project or geography or topography of the area to be served by the project, provide service meeting the standards set forth in subsection (7)(d)(I) of this section that: (A) Reliably meets or exceeds one hundred megabits per second download speed and is between at least twenty megabits per second and one hundred megabits per second upload speed; and (B) Is scalable to a minimum of one hundred megabits per second download speed and one hundred megabits per second upload speed. (e) If the treasury department modifies its interim regulations implementing the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", Pub.L. 117-2, grants awarded pursuant to subsection (7)(d) of this section may only be awarded for broadband projects that comply with the modified federal regulations. (f) As used in subsection (7)(d) of this section, "unserved or underserved households and businesses" means one or more households or businesses that are not currently served by a wireline connection that reliably delivers at least twenty-five megabits per second downstream and three megabits per second upstream. (g) On or before January 1, 2022, and within six months after a state fiscal year in which the division awards one or more grants for broadband deployment, whether or not awarded under the grant program, the division shall submit a report to the Colorado broadband office regarding grants awarded in the most recent state fiscal year. Reports submitted under this subsection (7)(g) must include: (I) For each project awarded grant money: (A) A description of the project, including a description of the use of the grant money in providing broadband; (B) A summary of the progress made on the project; (C) The estimated completion date for the project or, if already completed, the date of completion; (D) A map of the areas to be served or already served by the project; and (E) The type of technology deployed or used for broadband provided through the project; (II) The number of grant applicants, the amounts of grant money requested by each applicant, the number of grants awarded, and the amounts of grant money awarded to each applicant that receives an award; and (III) The amount of money expended for grant awards versus the amount of money obligated but not yet expended for grant awards. (8) The division shall administer the infrastructure and strong communities grant program created in section 24-32-133. In connection with the administration of the grant program, the division shall consult with the Colorado energy office created in section 24-38.5- 101 (1) and the department of transportation created in section 43-1-103 (1).
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