81-702.

Nebraska Broadband Office; office space; administrative and budgetary support; Department of Transportation; duties; technology infrastructure projects on state highway property; powers.

(1) The Department of Transportation shall furnish the Nebraska Broadband Office with necessary office space, furniture, equipment, and supplies along with administrative and budgetary support, including salaries for professional, technical, and clerical assistants, except as limited in subsection (2) of this section. The Department of Transportation and the Nebraska Broadband Office shall, whenever practicable, seek reimbursement of such costs from federal-aid funds to the extent such costs are eligible for reimbursement.

(2) Broadband installation, operation, or maintenance projects of the Nebraska Broadband Office shall not be funded by the Department of Transportation, except as provided in subsection (3) of this section. Such restriction shall not apply to any fund or appropriation of the Legislature that has been specifically designated for projects of the Nebraska Broadband Office.

(3) The Department of Transportation may use state highway funds for projects to install, operate, and maintain fiber optic, broadband, or other similar technology infrastructure on state highway property solely to meet the state's present and future transportation technology needs along the state highway system. The department is further authorized to enter into public-private partnerships or to use other alternative project delivery methods set out in the Transportation Innovation Act. The department is authorized to work with the Nebraska Broadband Office for such projects and to seek or solicit the use of eligible federal highway funds to pay some or all of the state's costs for such projects. Nothing in this subsection authorizes the department to own, operate, manage, construct, or maintain fiber optic, broadband, or other similar technology outside of state highway property.