A committee-approved bill would remove the executive director for the state’s broadband network KentuckyWired, and remake the board overseeing the network that’s been entangled in litigation over contract disputes and facing scrutiny in previous months from state lawmakers.  Rep. Matt Lockett , R-Nicholasville, the primary sponsor of House Bill 314 and a co-chair of the Information Technology Oversight Committee, told lawmakers that his oversight committee had been meeting in prior months ahead of this year’s legislative session to “gain a clearer picture of how the KentuckyWired project is actually being managed.”  “No matter who came before us, one theme kept coming up: that there is a real, widespread concern about how the Kentucky Communications Network Authority, or KCNA, is currently overseeing this project,” Lockett said. KCNA is the agency, housed inside the Office of the Governor, supervising the KentuckyWired broadband network that consists of hundreds of miles of fiber optic cable built across the state to provide high-speed internet connection to every county seat. That network serves as a “middle mile” of internet connection, and private companies can then build a “last mile” of internet connection directly to homes and businesses. The network serves the court system, school districts, executive branch offices, public universities and community and technical colleges. The authority has been ensnarled the past two years in litigation with the private company Accelecom, or Open Fiber Kentucky Company LLC, which it partnered with to manage the broadband network. The ongoing contract disputes before Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd include Accelecom seeking permission to connect certain customers to the middle mile network.  That litigation, paired with concerns that KCNA is using outdated equipment in its network, has drawn strong scrutiny from Lockett and Sen. Gex Williams, R-Verona, during meetings of the oversight committee. The committee issued a November memo recommending some funding be suspended for the network until litigation is resolved and an ongoing audit of the authority by the Republican Kentucky State Auditor Allison Ball is finished.  Lockett’s HB 314 would seek to remove the authority’s Executive  Director Doug Hendrix and abolish the position, instead putting the leader of the Commonwealth Office of Technology, or COT, in charge. That office provides information technology support for the state government. The House State Government Committee advanced HB 314 with all Republicans supporting; three Democrats also voted to “pass” on the measure, neither voting in favor or against. Rep. Al Gentry, D-Louisville, said he applauded Lockett’s efforts “to improve a program that has been struggling” but would keep his options open when potentially voting for it on the House floor.  “We felt like COT was the right organization to do it,” Lockett said. “They are willing to take it on. They know what they’re doing. They all already oversee the majority of the state’s IT projects. Their infrastructure and so forth is capable of handling this.”  Williams, who filed a similar bill in the Senate, told the Lantern last year he had lost confidence in Hendrix because he didn’t believe the authority had proper technical expertise.  Hendrix and Adam Adkins, general counsel for the authority, did not respond to emails Thursday requesting comment. Lockett said  Hendrix submitted his resignation following a Jan. 12 meeting of his oversight committee, the same day Lockett filed HB 314. Scottie Ellis, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said Hendrix did not resign and was “retiring after serving 27 years.”  HB 314 would also remake the board overseeing the authority. The board is currently made up of various cabinet secretaries within the Beshear administration. Under HB 314, those secretaries would be replaced by state constitutional officers, currently all Republicans, add the chief information officer for the Kentucky Department of Education and give the governor two appointments to the board.  Ellis did not immediately provide a response Thursday to a request for comment about the bill.  The bill would also remove the agency from within the Office of the Governor and attach it to the Finance and Administration Cabinet. Lockett said the cabinet had concerns about the bill but declined to elaborate. Originally launched in 2013 under former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, the network’s construction has faced significant criticism in the past from state lawmakers for overspending by at least $100 million and years-long delays in getting the network live for businesses, households, school districts and other public entities to use. When the Information Technology Oversight Committee recommended some funding for network refreshes be paused, Hendrix had told the Lantern that those refreshes were required as a part of the contractual agreement with contractors and essential for network longevity.  Lockett and Williams have also argued the network is using millions of dollars of outdated equipment, something Hendrix has refuted in a statement to the Lexington Herald-Leader.  “I think again, this is kind of the first step in really trying to correct an issue for the taxpayers of Kentucky,” Lockett said. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. 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