5-11-1101. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds and declares that:

(1) the purpose of a state-funded public affairs broadcasting program is to provide Montana citizens with increased access to unbiased information about state government deliberations and public policy events through unedited television coverage and other communications technologies; and

(2) the preferred means of establishing and maintaining a state-funded public affairs broadcasting program is to assign the enabling responsibilities to the legislative council and the division to contract with a qualified operator through a competitive bidding process. If a qualified operator is not found, the division may become the operator and operate within the existing appropriation until a qualified operator is hired under a subsequent request for proposals. The division may not be the sole operator on a permanent basis but shall seek to maintain a partnership with an outside operator. The division shall issue a request for proposals before the end of any biennium during which the division serves as a temporary operator. Any scoring and review team for the requested proposals must include a member of the majority party and a member of the minority party who are members of the legislative council.