AUGUSTA – Gov. Angus King said Tuesday his administration is moving forward on his laptop computer initiative and that requests for proposals for a prototype are expected to be sent out next month.

Meeting with reporters, King said the challenge to the computer industry would be to develop a so-called “smart client” computer. Such a device is essentially a stripped-down version of laptops now available.

Unlike more expensive machines that can sell for $1,500 and more, King’s laptops will carry $500 price tags. The laptop would have some memory – but no hard drives or disk drives – and serve largely as access devices for the Internet.

“There are machines that meet some, but not all” of the guidelines, King said. “There are some that are close. We’re asking the industry to come up with [an] assembled device that’s somewhat different than anything that’s currently on the market. … We’re hopeful that we’ll get some good bids.”

Pending agreement on the prototype, the administration plans to provide each seventh- and eighth-grader in Maine with portable, Internet-capable personal computers beginning in the fall of 2002.

The governor’s once-generous laptop endowment emerged from the last legislative session significantly poorer after lawmakers reduced the $50 million fund to $30 million in order to pay for other programs.

Additionally, the Legislature challenged King to find $15 million in private donations if he wants to see the endowment survive. He acknowledged Tuesday that fund raising continues to be challenging after recently meeting with corporate and business representatives.