HI HB1156

Establishes the broadband service infrastructure grant program within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to award grants for deploying broadband service to unserved and underserved areas of Hawaii.

Defines unserved areas as lacking broadband service with minimum speeds of 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, and underserved areas as lacking 50 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream.

Requires applicants to contribute a minimum of 20 percent of project costs from their own funds, prohibits use of other federal or state grants for matching, and limits eligibility to non-governmental entities with demonstrated broadband service experience in Hawaii.

Establishes annual application windows (60-90 days) and awards grants based on scoring criteria including project scope, applicant experience, matching fund amounts, and infrastructure scalability.

Appropriates $5,000,000 from general revenues for fiscal year 2019-2020 to establish and administer the grant program, with implementation rules to be adopted within 180 days.