Section 50-40-80 - Legislative findings(a) The General Assembly recognizes that access to broadband services in today's society is essential to everyday life. Access to broadband services is a necessary service as fundamental as electricity, gas, or phone service. There is a growing need for the government of this state to provide the much needed infrastructure to the homes and businesses without access to broadband services due to their location in rural and other unserved areas. Furthermore, the General Assembly finds and declares that ensuring broadband services deployment will have a positive effect on education, health care, public safety, business and industry, government services, and leisure activities throughout the entire state. The General Assembly also finds and declares that guaranteeing an equitable deployment of broadband services throughout the state is a public necessity, one of the basic functions of government, and a benefit to the entire state. Moreover, the General Assembly finds and declares that it is in the best interest of the state and the persons who live and work in the state to spend state funds through the establishment of a grant program to ensure the creation of a state-wide foundation of broadband services infrastructure in unserved areas of the state.(b) The General Assembly hereby finds and determines that the economic benefits that will inure to the State of Georgia and designated political subdivisions from the Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative provided for in this article and from the performance by private sector persons and entities of the obligations that they will incur in connection with such Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative, will be equal to or greater than the benefits to be derived by such private sector persons and entities in connection therewith, and that, therefore, the Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative does not violate the prohibition in the Georgia Constitution on the payment by public bodies of gratuities to private sector persons or entities.Added by 2018 Ga. Laws 423,§ 6-1, eff. 5/7/2018.