The Virginia Senate voted 36-0 for a comprehensive privacy bill (SB-1392) at a livestreamed floor session Friday. One senator didn’t vote due to a conflict of interest. Companion HB-2307 cleared the House 89-9 on Jan. 29 (see 2102010035). Virginia’s attorney general would enforce the rules. “This bill is an effort to set clear expectations for companies who handle or collect consumer data, and to proactively protect the rights of consumers,” said SB-1392 sponsor Sen. David Marsden (D) in a statement. “We’ve been overwhelmed with feedback from people who have been tracking the Consumer Data Protection Act this legislative session.” The House and Senate versions must be reconciled before session ends Feb. 11, but “that appears to be a mere formality given that the bills are identical and the House bill is already working its way through the Senate,” Husch Blackwell attorney David Stauss blogged Thursday. Other privacy bills are gaining momentum in New York and Washington state, Kelley Drye lawyers blogged Wednesday.
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.
Local and state officials oppose Comcast capping the amount of broadband data residential subscribers can use monthly without financial penalties. That's despite the cable operator pledging to delay implementation until summer. Comcast and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) said Wednesday the ISP will pause overage fees until August on the 1.2 TB limit in Eastern and Northeastern states (see 2102030017). Baltimore City Council Member Zeke Cohen (D) responded, “We will not be satisfied until the data caps are removed.”
The NARUC Telecom Subcommittee unanimously cleared a draft resolution urging the FCC to scrutinize Rural Digital Opportunity Fund long-form applications (see 2101290028). Thursday at NARUC’s virtual winter meeting, the staff-level panel tweaked the RDOF measure to specify that the FCC should ensure winners follow through “at the speeds and latency tiers” they promised. The Telecom Committee plans to vote on the measure at its Wednesday business meeting. Subcommittee Chair Joseph Witmer from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission noted many RDOF winners in his state are new carriers. Based on conversation with the Biden transition team, including DLA Piper's Smitty Smith, NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay hopes FCC Democrats “will really see much, much more benefit in working closely with states on these policy issues, as they have at the state level ... for the last four years” on issues like net neutrality, he said earlier in the meeting. NARUC wants the FCC to quickly reengage with state members of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service about a contribution overhaul, said Ramsay, noting the state association wrote the Biden transition team about it in December. He suspects the commission won’t want to address the subject until it has a permanent chair, he said. Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel was federal chair when Democrats last ran the FCC and the joint board was close to consensus, but there wasn’t agreement in the Republican-controlled FCC, he said. The board’s new federal side should take up the proposal submitted by state members during the Trump administration or submit an alternative plan for debate, he said.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission could expand to seven members from five if lawmakers pass LB-293. The unicameral legislature's Transportation and Telecom panel weighed the bill by Sen. Mike Flood (R) at a livestreamed hearing Monday. Seven elected members would mean “better representation and accessibility,” Flood said. “Every county and every city has its own unique story and its own telecommunications issues,” but one commissioner, Mary Ridder (R), now represents half the state’s geographic area, he said. The bill would let commissioners hold other jobs if not in regulated industries, he said.
Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction winners must follow through on broadband promises, NARUC Telecom Committee members said in interviews last week. NARUC plans to vote at its Feb. 4-5 and 8-11 meeting on a draft resolution urging the FCC to scrutinize RDOF long-form applications (see 2101260033). Some commissioners raised doubts about fixed wireless and said they’re unfamiliar with entities that won federal dollars.
Net neutrality bills surfaced in two Northeastern state legislatures. In Connecticut, Rep. Matt Blumenthal (D) Friday proposed HB-6155 to require ISPs with state contracts to adopt open-internet policies. It follows HB-5251, introduced Jan. 22, to require the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to require net neutrality. In New York, Senate Telecom Committee Chairman Kevin Parker (D) Thursday introduced a state-contracts net neutrality bill (SB-3308) that also creates a $250 million revolving fund for municipal ISPs. It’s like AB-1239, introduced Jan. 7. Assembly member Clyde Vanel (D) floated AB-3910 Thursday to bolster Public Service Commission ISP authority and require net neutrality. Assembly member Patricia Fahy (D) proposed a state-contract approach Wednesday in AB-3479, co-sponsored by Vanel and 30 other members. Other states with net neutrality bills this session include Missouri, Rhode Island and Texas. Some Democrats support state bills even with President Joe Biden and a new FCC, while others say they feel less pressure (see 2012080045).
Proposed California wireline resiliency rules shift the burden of providing power to telecom providers from electric utilities, the cable industry commented Wednesday to the California Public Utilities Commission. CPUC members may vote Feb. 11 on a 72-hour backup power requirement and other resiliency rules for wireline providers (see 2101080040). This “would require wireline providers to provide backup power in extreme fire risk conditions that have been deemed too dangerous for the Commission to require the electric companies to provide power,” said Comcast in docket 18-03-011. Give wireline 18 rather than eight months to implement the policy, said Comcast, adding that the CPUC gave wireless carriers 12 months in a prior resiliency order. Cox, Charter Communications and the California Cable Telecommunications Association made similar comments. Frontier Communications suggested revisions including “a competitively-neutral cost recovery mechanism to help recover the enormous costs of these requirements.” CalTel and other small LECs urged similar for rate-of-return regulated providers. Don't require providers deploy generators in communities that oppose them, said AT&T. “Wireline carriers must have unambiguous discretion to adapt and deploy their limited personnel and equipment resources where their deployment supplies the maximum possible benefit to public safety.” Wireline backup power rules should apply in areas with insufficient wireless coverage, even if they’re not in tier one and two high fire threat districts covered by the proposed decision, said the CPUC Public Advocates Office. Industry commenters raised jurisdictional issues about regulating VoIP. A coalition including Communications Workers of America and The Utility Reform Network said, “This Commission has full authority and jurisdiction” here.
Court relief probably won’t come soon enough for rural Texas telcos facing large reductions in state USF support, but it may be their last option, said telecom association leaders in interviews. The Texas Statewide Telephone Cooperative Inc. (TSTCI) and Texas Telephone Association (TTA) sued the Texas Public Utility Commission last week at Travis County District Court in Austin. About 50 small rural telcos are losing 60-70% of their Texas USF high-cost funding because commissioners refused last year to adopt a staff plan to double the contribution rate to 6.4%, they said.
Arkansas senators voted 35-0 to lift municipal broadband restrictions, sending the measure Tuesday to the House. SB-74 increases competition for broadband, the “new electricity of the 21st century,” said sponsor Sen. Ricky Hill (R) at the livestreamed floor session. The bill would declare a broadband emergency and immediately lift restrictions for all governments and public education. It would amend state law to say they may "directly or indirectly" provide voice, data, broadband, video or wireless telecom services, including the right to "acquire, construct, furnish, equip, own, operate, sell, convey, lease, rent, let, assign, dispose of, contract for, or otherwise deal in facilities and apparatus for" those services. If a government raises funds through bonds, it must partner with a private entity to provide service. SB-74 “fully supports local control,” emailed Arkansas Municipal League Executive Director Mark Hayes. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance supports the measure, said Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director Christopher Mitchell. Co-sponsor Sen. Breanne Davis (R) pushed on the issue “two years ago, and I think she backed off a bit to give the big cable and telephone companies a little more time to do something to solve the problem,” Mitchell emailed. “They haven't, and now she and many others across the political spectrum believe communities need to be able to invest in themselves to ensure everyone has high-quality Internet access.” Nebraska and Washington state might also reduce muni broadband barriers. The Washington House Community and Economic Development Committee has a hearing Wednesday on HB-1336 by Rep. Drew Hansen (D), who promised last fall to kill all broadband restrictions on cities, sovereign tribes, rural utility districts and other government entities (see 2009180038). Nebraska Sen. Justin Wayne (D) last week introduced LB-656 authorizing municipalities to provide broadband.
A Florida Senate panel supported requiring warrants for police searches of cellphones, other portable communication devices and smart speakers, except in emergencies. The Criminal Justice Committee voted 7-1 for SB-144 at a livestreamed Tuesday hearing. “Our founding fathers could not have imagined a world in which we have Amazon Alexas and cellphones and GPS systems that are on our wrists,” said Vice Chair Jeff Brandes (R). Sen. George Gainer (R) voted no after asking, “Wouldn’t this bill interfere with the apprehension of pretty dangerous people?” Nobody on the committee opposed a bill to allow police to use drones for crowd control and traffic management. SB-44 wouldn’t allow police to use drones to collect evidence of violations, and the panel amended the bill to remove a section that would have allowed drones for monitoring crowds of 50 or more. There appeared to be some confusion about if the bill would allow drones to be used in high-speed chases. Sponsor Sen. Tom Wright (R) said he intended to allow police to send drones after escaping vehicles, but committee Staff Director Lauren Jones said the bill as written wouldn’t allow that.