Delaware and several municipalities seek to increase awareness of the federal affordable connectivity program, Gov. John Carney (D) said Tuesday. Local leaders in Dover, Wilmington and other cities and towns plan outreach efforts over the next month, the governor’s office said.
The New Mexico legislature passed a bill Friday to authorize the state to lease or sell broadband infrastructure. The House voted 62-1 and the Senate voted 32-0 for SB-452.
A Tennessee Senate committee punted to next year a bill that would require smartphone manufacturers to turn on obscenity filters by default. SB-138 is unconstitutional, violating the First Amendment and the commerce clause, said NetChoice Deputy Director-State and Federal Affairs Zach Lilly at a livestreamed Commerce Committee hearing Monday. But the National Decency Coalition said the bill is the “most constitutional” way to protect kids. Sen. Shane Reeves (R) questioned the “logistics” of implementing the bill, including how to turn the filter on by default in only one state. Utah passed a similar law in 2021 (see 2103080044), but it won’t take effect until five other states do the same. That contingency is probably why nobody has sued Utah yet, said Lilly: There likely would be an “avalanche” of litigation otherwise.
The California Public Utilities Commission “admonishes” T-Mobile’s MetroPCS and the agency’s own Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED) for failing to comply with meet-and-confer procedures in a data request dispute, Administrative Law Judge Robert Mason said in a Monday ruling in docket I.22-04-005. The ALJ ordered MetroPCS and CPED to have that meeting within 14 days. Also, MetroPCS must within 40 days supplement responses to a data request despite the company’s objections related to pending litigation, the ALJ said. CPED had found factually and legally deficient a Nov. 4, 2021, MetroPCS response to a Sept. 27, 2021, CPED data request. “But rather than engage in any meet and confer, CPED chose instead to prepare a lengthy Staff Report that detailed the problems with MetroPCS’ response and asked the Commission to open this Order Instituting Investigation (OII) to order MetroPCS to pay a $10 million penalty for violating” CPUC rules, the ALJ said. MetroPCS is also at fault because it didn’t quickly notify CPED of any concerns the company had with the data request soon after receiving it, the ALJ said. Mason rejected MetroPCS’ objection that the carrier can’t answer CPED’s questions while a related federal lawsuit is pending. “MetroPCS fails to cite any law that the pendency of a federal lawsuit is a legitimate ground for refusing to respond to a data request” and it’s “doubtful that there would be such a law since both the federal government” and California “have concurrent jurisdiction to adopt regulations regarding universal service contributions from prepaid wireless providers,” said Mason: The company “failed to cite to any order from the assigned judge in the MetroPCS Litigation, or any other federal law, enjoining the Commission from executing its duty to gather information from entities subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction.” T-Mobile didn't comment by our deadline.
A Maryland children’s privacy bill cleared the House Economic Committee and second reading on the floor Friday, with amendments. The committee heard testimony earlier this month on HB-901, which is based on California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (see 2303010062). Amendments included edits to definitions of sell, consumer, biometric information and targeted advertising. Also, the bill would now cover products sold after April 1, 2025, rather than July 1, 2024, in the original bill.
The New Hampshire Senate passed an amended privacy bill (SB-255) in a voice vote Thursday. The bill, which is similar to Connecticut’s privacy law, cleared a committee one week earlier (see 2303090069). It goes to the House next.
Washington state should make its own broadband map because the FCC map “still has issues” despite improvement from the past edition, said the state broadband office’s director, Mark Vasconi, at a Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee hearing on HB-1746. The House-passed bill would require the state map by July 1, 2024. With as much as $1 billion possibly coming into the state over the next five years, it's “essential that we know where the infrastructure is and who is being served,” Vasconi said at Friday's livestreamed hearing. The Washington Public Utility Districts Association likes that the bill will allow the broadband office to contract with private entities to physically investigate and verify broadband availability on the ground, said lobbyist Scott Richards. On Thursday, the House voted 95-0 to pass HB-1711, which provides a sales and use tax exemption for internet and telecom infrastructure projects involving a federally recognized tribe. It now goes to the Senate. In Georgia, the legislature passed a broadband mapping bill Thursday. The House voted 167-0 for SB-193. It previously passed in the Senate and next will go to Gov. Brian Kemp (R).
New Mexico lawmakers passed multiple telecom bills Thursday. The House voted 49-4 to pass SB-41, previously passed by the Senate, to require ILECs with at least 50,000 customers to be regulated the same as rural ILECs under New Mexico’s Rural Telecommunications Act. Also, the House voted 53-0 for the Senate-passed SB-155 that would freeze annual reduction support payments for eligible ILECs at 2023 rates through 2026 and then end the payments. The Senate voted 40-0 for the House-passed HB-160 to allow the state transportation commission to waive right-of-way fees for installing infrastructure in unserved or underserved areas. And the Senate voted 31-5 for the House-passed HB-170 to clarify that illegal cramming includes only unauthorized charges for non-telecom services. The House unanimously supported the Senate’s cramming bill earlier that week (see 2303150029). Also Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee urged “do pass” on a bill (SB-452) that would authorize the state to lease or sell broadband infrastructure.
The Kentucky House passed a bill to ban TikTok, in a 96-3 vote Wednesday. The House amended SB-20 so it must return to the Senate for concurrence. The Senate passed an older version of the bill unanimously last month. The House amendment added exemptions for public postsecondary education institutions and executive branch agencies that determine using TikTok is necessary for law enforcement activities, civil investigations or enforcement activities, or research on security practices or threats, “so long as the agency takes appropriate steps to obtain the necessary access without endangering the agency's network, or any other network owned, operated, or otherwise under the control of state government.”
A Minnesota 988 surcharge on telecom bills is a must, said state Sen. Melissa Wiklund (D) and a mental health advocate, at a Minnesota Senate Health and Human Services hearing livestreamed Thursday. Wiklund’s bill SF-2588 would allow a 988 surcharge of 12-25 cents monthly. Short-term federal funding is helping the mental health and suicide hotline, said the senator. "However, this is not ongoing funding, and there is a need to create a stable and sustainable funding model to support the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline in Minnesota long term.” Wiklund noted she's talking to telecom industry lobbyists about ensuring accountability for how 988 fee revenue is used, like there is for 911 fee revenue. Mental Health Minnesota Executive Director Shannah Mulvihill said federal funding is "temporary and still not enough,” and Minnesota “can’t depend” on the state’s current budget surplus. "The broad allowable use of these fees reflects reality," she said. "The 988 service fees in this bill will help establish an equitable system to address mental health emergencies and parallel services including 988 call centers." The fee will start at 12 cents if the bill becomes law, said Mulvihill, answering a question by Sen. Paul Utke (R). But Sen. Jim Abeler (R) said it seems like fees always seem to end up at the maximum allowed. And Abeler isn’t sure Minnesotans expect higher fees when the state has a $19 billion surplus, he said.