Tennessee is the eighth state with a consumer privacy law. Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed the comprehensive bill HB-1181/SB-73 Thursday. The state House and Senate passed it unanimously last month (see 2304210060). The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) praised the bill Friday. Consumer Reports sees room for improvement.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., said during and after a Thursday hearing they’re forming a USF-focused task force to evaluate how to move forward on a comprehensive revamp of the program that may update its contribution factor to include non-wireline entities. Senate Communications members cited several telecom policy matters that intertwine with the push for USF changes, including future funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity fund and restoring the commission’s lapsed spectrum auction authority.

TikTok and ByteDance removed to U.S. District Court for Western Arkansas in El Dorado Tuesday a complaint filed March 28 in Union County Circuit Court in which Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) alleges Tik Tok and its parent company are duping Arkansas consumers about the risks that the Chinese government may gain access to their personal data.

The GOP leads on the House and Senate Communications subcommittees were noncommittal in interviews before a Wednesday House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee hearing about what kind of modifications they would like for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program. Current estimates peg ACP as likely to exhaust the initial $14.2 billion in funding from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during the first half of 2024, perhaps as early as Q1. The Commerce Oversight hearing highlighted partisan fault lines over how much Congress should modify the existing federal broadband funding apparatus.

A District of Columbia Council committee supported confirming Heather McGaffin to direct the Office of Unified Communications. The Judiciary and Public Safety Committee voted 3-0, with Councilmember Christina Henderson (I) voting present, at a livestreamed meeting Tuesday. Committee members said the current OUC deputy director is well-qualified, but they want improvements at the 911 center, where recent audits found problems with incorrect addresses, miscommunication and dispatching delays (see 2303230070 and 2303150071). "OUC has struggled to provide reliable and quality service to residents for over a decade,” said Chairperson Brooke Pinto (D). “Reports of agency mismanagement and struggling performance have raised concerns with the public and create a somewhat strained relationship with” fire and police departments. The committee received more reports about overly long wait times calling 911 in the past few weeks, she added. OUC workers are "counting on the next director to act with urgency to provide staff with the training, support and structure that they need to be successful.” Councilmember Charles Allen (D) wants OUC to release “an actual action plan” with specific and “measurable steps” for implementing audit recommendations, he said. Also, Allen wants “a stronger and more proactive relationship with Council,” including monthly reports to the committee on call-taking and dispatching metrics, he said. Allen noted he remains concerned about problems including unanswered calls, blown addresses and lengthy hold and dispatch times. Councilmember Anita Bonds (D) joined Pinto and Allen in voting yes. A comprehensive plan is “sorely needed,” said Bonds, noting frequent concerns from constituents about dispatches to incorrect addresses. McGaffin has a “bold vision,” but Henderson said she voted present because she’s still waiting for sooner after-action reports and more comprehensive updates about investigations and specific incidents. Henderson said she wants that addressed before the full D.C. Council votes on confirmation. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) nominated McGaffin in February.

Incarcerated people's communications service providers and advocates disagree on how the FCC should implement the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act. Commissioners adopted the item in March, seeking comment on permanent rates for IPCS services and how to address accessibility concerns for incarcerated individuals with disabilities (see 2303160009). Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 23-62.

The FCC should drop any plan to revoke existing equipment authorizations as part of the ongoing push to make networks safer, industry groups agreed in reply comments on an FCC Further NPRM (see 23040700500). The Competitive Carriers Association, CTA, NCTA and the Telecommunications Industry Association were among those raising concerns about retroactive revocations. Initial comments also urged caution (see 2304100057). Most comments were posted Tuesday in docket 21-232.

Walmart’s April 12 motion seeking 7th Circuit interlocutory review to challenge the constitutional validity of the FTC’s litigation powers (see 2304130002) is an “unwarranted” delay tactic, said the FTC’s opposition brief Monday (docket 1:22-cv-03372) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago.

Policymakers should "take prompt steps to close loopholes that permit duplicate grants targeting a single area," wrote Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long in a blog Monday. Long noted the FCC has until May 15 to release a broadband funding map highlighting areas where federal subsidies have been allocated for infrastructure deployment, saying "effective interagency coordination is essential" to ensuring funds are "used wisely." The broadband funding map and oversight efforts "will be hamstrung" until the Biden administration, Congress and agencies responsible for distributing federal subsidies act "to align program eligibility requirements so as to prevent overlapping grants targeting a single location due to technical variations buried in the fine print," Long said. A "key fact that many do not appreciate" is that "inconsistent eligibility requirements adopted by different programs" will open the door to "a single location receiving funding from multiple sources," he said.

A possible path to averting Alaska USF’s June 30 termination emerged in comments last week at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The Department of Law (DOL) told the RCA it would consider approving an extension on an emergency basis if the commission fixes legal defects with an earlier proposal to extend the AUSF sunset by three years. Meanwhile, telecom companies and public advocates warned of rate increases and degraded service if commissioners allow the fund to die.