![[photo, Wayne A. Cawley, Jr. Building, 50 Harry S Truman Parkway, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/10dag/images/1198-1-3626.jpg)
c/o Rural Maryland Council, Dept. of Agriculture
Wayne A. Cawley, Jr. Building, 50 Harry S Truman Parkway, Annapolis, Maryland, February 2009. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Representing Dept. of Information Technology: Elliot H. Schlanger
Ex officio: James L. Henry, designee of Secretary of Business & Economic Development; Russell A. Yurek, designee of Secretary of Transportation; Michael P. Pennington, Chair, Rural Maryland Council; Ellen Flowers-Fields, designee of Chair, Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland; James J. Stakem, Chair, Tri-County Council for Western Maryland; Dirck K. Bartlett, Chair, Mid-Shore Regional Council; John Donegan III, designee of Chair, Tri-County Council for Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland; Roy W. Crow, Chair, Upper Shore Regional Council.
The Maryland Rural Broadband Coordination Board was established in July 2006 (Chapter 269, Acts of 2006; Code Economic Development Article, secs. 13-501 through 13-506). For rural and underserved areas of the State, the Board will work to establish broadband communication services. To that end, the Board will review and approve the disbursement of funds from the Rural Broadband Assistance Fund, and through cooperation with other public, private, and nonprofit entities, it will obtain further resources for establishing broadband communication services in rural and underserved areas in Maryland.
The Board consists of nine members. They include the Secretary of Business and Economic Development; the Secretary of Transportation; a representative from the Department of Information Technology; the chair of the Rural Maryland Council; and the chair or designee from five regional councils. The Board is staffed by the Rural Maryland Council, which also includes in its annual report an account of Board activities.
Although authorization for the Board was extended through June 30, 2020, legislation in 2018 repealed its expiration date (Chapter 176, Acts of 2018).
The Board ceased meeting in 2010. Moreover, the Rural Broadband Assistance Fund has not received either State or federal funding since 2009.
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