Anticipating federal infrastructure and COVID-19 relief funding, state legislators reflected on their broadband roles at hearings this week. An Oregon committee weighed a bill Wednesday to get the state ready for funding, and a Maine panel Thursday mulled what connectivity work will be left when federal dollars dwindle. “All these states are figuring out how to now regulate broadband in a more comprehensive manner, especially as we see so much money being devoted,” noted Hawaii House Majority Leader Della Au Belatti (D) at a webcast hearing.
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.
Comprehensive state privacy bills marched forward in Indiana and Washington state. The Indiana Senate passed SB-358 in a unanimous 49-0 vote Tuesday, and a Washington House panel narrowly cleared an amended HB-1850 Wednesday. Elsewhere, a Virginia Senate panel cleared edits to its 2021 law and a Maryland committee heard testimony on a biometrics privacy bill.
A Washington state digital right-to-repair bill cleared the House Appropriations Committee 18-14. Democrats supported the bill; Republicans were opposed. HB-1810, opposed by industry at a hearing last week (see 2201280026), would require manufacturers to make documentation, parts and tools available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms. Urging a no vote at Tuesday's webcast hearing, Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R) worried HB-1810 would hurt companies’ intellectual property rights without benefiting consumers. The House Consumer Protection Committee voted 4-3 Wednesday to clear HB-1801 to study creating a repairability index. All Republicans voted nay. The vote was on a substitute by Chairman Steve Kirby (D) that removed language that would have required manufacturers to label products with repairability scores, which had raised concerns (see 2201190049). More study is needed before requiring a score, said Kirby at the livestreamed hearing. Task force recommendations would be due July 1, 2023, with annual updates on the same day in the next two years.
The Florida Public Service Commission delayed adopting staff-recommended changes to draft pole attachment dispute rules Tuesday after AT&T suggested edits Monday. At a livestreamed PSC meeting, staff and electric companies objected to some parts of the carrier’s eleventh-hour filing to modify a staff agreement reached last week with the cable industry.
Consumer and prison inmate advocates urged the California Public Utilities Commission to regulate video calling and other non-voice services used by incarcerated people to communicate with their families. But big inmate calling service (ICS) providers said Friday the CPUC can’t regulate those products because they're Title I information services under the 1996 Telecom Act.
A Washington state committee cleared a proposed update to the state’s emergency communication law for next-generation 911. The House Appropriations Committee adopted HB-1703 by unanimous voice vote at a virtual hearing Thursday. Washington 911 “needs to stay up to date with modern technology,” said sponsor Rep. Cindy Ryu (D) at the hearing. The bill would also coordinate 911 with the state’s new 988 system, she said. The committee heard testimony but didn’t vote on digital equity and right-to-repair bills. CTIA opposed requiring carriers to participate in broadband adoption programs envisioned by HB-1723, which cleared another House committee earlier this month (see 2201180057). Such a mandate is preempted by federal law; legislators should make wireless participation voluntary, said CTIA lobbyist Jeff Gombosky. Seattle Digital Equity Program Manager David Keyes supported the adoption bill as a "critical companion to infrastructure support." Industry slammed HB-1810, which would require manufacturers to make documentation, parts and tools available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms. It passed another committee this month (see 2201190049). TechNet opposes requiring manufacturers to provide “unvetted third parties with sensitive diagnostic information and software, tools and parts without requiring the critical consumer protections afforded by authorized repair networks,” said Vice President-State Policy David Edmonson. The market gives consumers a wide range of repair choices, said CTIA Director-State Legislative Affairs Lisa McCabe. Adding a private right of action would reduce enforcement costs for the Washington attorney general’s office, suggested Consumer Protection Division Assistant AG Amy Teng.
California’s net neutrality law survived an appeal by ISP associations at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The panel’s Friday opinion that the FCC can’t preempt states after giving up its own broadband authority could affect ISP challenges of Vermont net neutrality and New York state affordable broadband laws, said legal experts.
Judges wrestled with whether to let state courts handle Altice’s challenge of New Jersey Board of Public Utilities cable prorating rules, at virtual oral argument Thursday in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Cable Act preemption, judges were skeptical about Altice’s argument that the state can’t force it to prorate bills when customers end service early.
The Missouri House Utilities Committee weighed a broadband bill (HB-2052) that would set up a 12-year task force to evaluate the status of access, affordability and speed, monitor deployment and make recommendations. The bill recognizes broadband is a problem in rural, urban and suburban areas, said sponsor Rep. Louis Riggs (R) at a livestreamed hearing Wednesday. The proposed group would have at least 24 members, said Riggs, who chaired a special broadband committee over the summer. Utilities Chair Bill Kidd (R) said his concern about task forces are that they spend a lot of time and effort, “and in the end, nothing happens.” Riggs assured the chair that the task force will be accountable. Missouri Broadband Development Director BJ Tanksley, named to that position last week, said he sees the task force as a tool to get all the “voices into the room,” though it wouldn’t have decision-making power. If the group is formed, Tanksley would try to ensure it works toward concrete goals, he said. Supporting the bill, Missouri Municipal League Executive Director Richard Sheets said the group won’t “kick the can,” but instead will enhance coordination, which the broadband committee heard was a problem. AT&T supports the bill but is concerned the company won’t be adequately represented by a committee makeup allowing the only wireline member to be from a defunct Missouri telecom association, said Regional Vice President-External Affairs Madeline Romious. She suggested adding three broadband industry representatives. The bill also got support at the hearing from municipal utilities, electric cooperatives, small ISPs and farmers.
A West Virginia pole access bill meant to speed broadband deployment cleared the Senate Economic Development Committee at a livestreamed hearing Wednesday. In unanimous voice votes, the panel adopted SB-231 and an amendment by Sen. Eric Tarr (R). Tarr’s amendment put the West Virginia Department of Economic Development instead of the Public Service Commission in charge of carrying out the proposed law. As amended, pole owners would inform the department within 30 days of making a pole ready for telecom facilities. The department would notify other broadband providers within 15 days, then providers would have 30 days to notify the owner they too would make use of the available pole space. Tarr sought to replace the PSC with the Economic Development Department because the commission doesn’t regulate broadband and so it has no ISP list. The department includes a broadband council that would have a list, he said. PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane testified it would be best to remove the PSC from the bill.