NTIA could require states to include public utilities commissions as they decide how to use federal infrastructure funds, said Doug Kinkoph, associate administrator, NTIA Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth, at NARUC’s partially virtual conference Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the NARUC Telecom Committee axed overbuilding language from a proposed resolution about the coming billions of dollars.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
State utility commissioners should get active in broadband funding talks, said NTIA and U.S. Treasury officials at the partially virtual NARUC conference Monday. Each state is to receive at least $200 million combined through Treasury’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund and NTIA's broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. State commissioners may no longer say broadband is “not my jurisdiction,” said former FCC and South Carolina Commissioner Mignon Clyburn: “I’m sorry, you can’t rest on that anymore.”
Florida House Commerce Committee members backed a privacy bill containing a private right of action (PRA) unanimously and on a bipartisan basis at a livestreamed Thursday hearing. Possible litigation and compliance costs from the comprehensive bill aren’t concerning enough to vote no, said committee members. Bipartisan policymaking can still happen in state legislatures, unlike in Congress, said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) on a Freedom of Privacy Forum webinar later that day.
Georgia senators grilled tech industry officials opposing a social media bill that's like the Texas and Florida laws that were enjoined by federal district courts. At a livestreamed hearing Thursday, the Georgia Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee mulled SB-393 to treat large social websites as common carriers and require anti-discrimination of content. Chairman Bill Cowsert (R) said the bill would be back on the agenda for the committee’s Tuesday meeting. The bill would stop social media from banning “lawful but awful content” like bullying, racism and hate speech, testified Servando Esparza, TechNet executive director-Texas and the Southeast. Cowsert asked about concerns about “canceling certain voices” due to having a “certain political bent.” Users feel platforms are violating their free speech, he said. “If you say something that the censors at Facebook don't like, then you get silenced.” SB-393 infringes on private businesses’ First Amendment rights, replied Esparza. Sen. John Kennedy (R) asked if platforms had standards for what can and can’t be on platforms. Guidelines “evolve constantly,” as they must, said the TechNet official: For example, nobody could have foreseen kids daring each other to eat Tide Pods. Conservatives and Republicans both do well on social media, said NetChoice Policy Counsel Chris Marchese. For a long time, conservatives didn’t get a fair shot on traditional media, but then former President Donald Trump did very well on social media, he said. Cowsert returned that Trump got kicked off. The Constitution protects businesses deciding what speech to allow, said Marchese. Sen. John Albers (R) complained that he lost his law firm job after Twitter allowed him to be wrongly “canceled” when some groups made false claims about him about a year ago. Marchese said he was sorry to hear that, but it was the First Amendment, not Twitter, that allowed it to happen.
Cable and wireless industries opposed a Rhode Island net neutrality bill, at a livestreamed hearing Wednesday. The House Innovation, Internet and Technology Committee held the bill for further study, a common practice that doesn’t mean the panel won’t later take it up. HB-7187 would require ISPs to follow open-internet rules and allow state contracts only with companies that adhere. The bill isn’t needed because there have been no ISP net neutrality violations, said New England Cable and Telecommunications Association President Tim Wilkerson. Cox sees “no pressing need” and states are preempted, said Latham & Watkins lawyer Matt Murchison. CTIA Vice President-State Legislative Affairs Gerard Keegan also opposed HB-7187. The American Civil Liberties Union thinks net neutrality rules are critical, said Hannah Stern, ACLU-Rhode Island policy associate.
An Ohio House panel split by party as it narrowly advanced a comprehensive privacy bill Wednesday. The Government Oversight Committee voted 7-5 for HB-376 at the measure’s fifth hearing before the panel. All Democratic members voted no. Chairman Shane Wilkin (R) ruled as out of order an amendment by ranking member Richard Brown (D), who sought to remove a restriction on private lawsuits and language giving exclusive enforcement authority to the state attorney general. HB-376 can now be scheduled for a floor vote. In Connecticut, 19 Senate Democrats including Sen. Martin Looney and Majority Leader Bob Duff introduced a one-page privacy bill (SB-6) to raise funding to the attorney general’s office “to increase efforts to protect consumer personal information and data from unwanted sale and dissemination.” Edits to Virginia’s privacy law advanced Tuesday. The House Commerce Committee voted 21-1 for HB-1259, saying data about race, religion, sexual orientation, citizenship and certain other things is sensitive only “when used to make a decision that results in legal or similarly significant effects concerning a consumer.” The Finance and Appropriations Committee voted 13-2 for SB-534 to authorize the AG to pursue actual damages to consumers if a data controller or processor continues to violate the privacy law after the 30-day right to cure ends or if it breaches an express written statement it gave the AG. Also, it would clarify that political organizations are nonprofits exempt from the act. The AG may decide if a cure is possible, it said. And the bill would abolish the consumer privacy fund, placing all money collected by enforcement instead in a different state trust fund. The Florida House Commerce Committee plans a Thursday hearing on a comprehensive privacy bill (HB-9), resurrected from a failed 2021 bill, by Rep. Fiona McFarland (D). A New York state privacy bill advanced Tuesday (see 2202080051).
With federal broadband dollars on the way, Regulatory Commission of Alaska staff disagree with using Alaska USF (AUSF) to subsidize high-speed internet, said RCA Common Carrier Specialist David Parrish at a virtual commission meeting Wednesday. The commission could finalize an AUSF update rulemaking (R-21-001) by August under a staff memo outlining a tentative schedule, he said. Chairman Bob Pickett said he’s “looking forward to getting this process moving again.”
Nebraska can’t wait for the FCC to get good broadband maps, said state Sen. Bruce Bostelman (R) at a livestreamed hearing Tuesday in the unicameral legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. But the telecom industry poo-pooed having the Nebraska Public Service Commission draw its own map as proposed by Bostelman’s LB-914.
A New Hampshire panel punted on an RF safety bill that would require 5G telecom antennas to be placed at least 1,640 feet from residentially zoned areas, parks, schools, playgrounds, hospitals, nursing homes and day care centers. HB-1644, previewed by sponsor Rep. Patrick Abrami (D) this summer (see 2108230043), also would create a registry for anyone experiencing radiation exposure symptoms. At a livestreamed Monday meeting, the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee voted 17-4 to study the issue more rather than adopt HB-1644 now. Testimony clearly showed people suffered from various physical and neurological issues, and "there may be a correlation” to wireless emissions, but “the committee was uncertain as to the causation of such ailments,” said Vice Chairman Douglas Thomas (R). More study could lead to a compromise next session that will get more support, he said. Rep. Lucius Parshall (D), one of the no votes, said he would rather temporarily ban 5G deployment while the study happens. The state lacks authority to impose a moratorium, said Rep. Jacqueline Cali-Pitts (D), supporting more study. Thomas’ subcommittee voted 3-1 to recommend the interim study, at a meeting earlier Monday. “We've heard testimony pretty strongly on both sides of the fence, and it's very complex,” he said before that vote. “Unfortunately, this is an early bill. We would have liked to have been able to put together an amendment to make it more palatable ... but time won't allow us.” HB-1644 could “jeopardize” state emergency communications, Mark Doyle, New Hampshire Department of Safety Emergency Services and Communications director, testified between subcommittee and full committee votes. It could negatively affect public safety radios and 911 services because people are making more emergency calls from cellphones, he said. HB-1644 was based on a November 2020 report by Abrami and others on a state 5G commission that said the FCC could be ignoring wireless RF dangers due to industry influence (see 2011020046).
A Washington state bill meant to streamline broadband grants and loans cleared the House Capital Budget Committee at a livestreamed meeting Friday. Members voted 19-3 for HB-1673, which would allow the state’s Public Works Board to make low- or no-interest loans or grants for emergency public works broadband projects. It would also remove requirements that the board must consult with the Utilities and Transportation Commission before awarding funds and that the UTC must provide the board a technical feasibility assessment of proposed applications. Rep. Peter Abbarno (R) supported the bipartisan bill as a “step forward” that will speed broadband funding. Rep. Vicki Kraft (R) voted no because she would prefer giving tax credits to the private sector, she said. Thursday in Hawaii, two Senate committees cleared a bill requiring public housing built, renovated or reconstructed after Jan. 1, 2023, to have broadband access. Government Operations and Housing committees each voted 5-0 Thursday for SB-2479. State legislatures are weighing many broadband bills this year with federal funds coming (see 2202030038).