Adam Bender

New York state could soon have the nation’s first digital electronics right-to-repair law, after the legislature passed on a bipartisan basis a proposal (S-4104/A-7006) Friday to require OEMs to provide parts, tools and repair documentation to consumers and independent repair shops. Advocates celebrated their first state victory on an electronics repair bill after years of trying to overcome tech industry lobbying against the legislation.

Blue state New York could soon join red states Texas and Florida in seeking to regulate social media companies. Despite opposition by tech and civil liberties groups, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is expected to sign a measure, passed Thursday by the Senate and Wednesday by the Assembly, to require social platforms to provide reporting mechanisms for hateful conduct. Also, the Assembly was expected to vote later Thursday on a Senate-passed measure that could make New York the first state with a digital right-to-repair law.

Minnesota’s attorney general supported revisiting LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation. So did some local governments and consumer and municipal broadband advocates, in comments due Wednesday in docket M-21-133 at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. LTD urged the PUC to reject the request by Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) and Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA) to revoke the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winner’s ETC status (see 2205170058).

The Supreme Court’s slim margin blocking Texas from enforcing a social media law surprised some court watchers. The action via a 5-4 emergency ruling Tuesday in NetChoice v. Paxton barred the law from being enforced while under consideration by the lower courts. Questions remain about where justices would stand in a case on the law’s merits, with Tuesday’s opinion shedding light only on three dissenting members’ views, said observers in interviews.

California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) draft rules are “now mostly complete,” said California Privacy Protection Agency Executive Director Ashkan Soltani at a CPPA board meeting livestreamed Thursday. CPRA is set to take effect Jan. 1 despite rulemaking delays (see 2202280040). California privacy rulemaking authority formally transferred to the CPPA from the state attorney general April 21 pursuant to the 2020 law, which succeeded 2018’s California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). On May 5, the California Office of Administrative Law approved transfer of CCPA regulations to the privacy agency. The renumbered rules “represent the beginning of the Agency’s rulemaking role,” the CPPA said Monday. As part of a pre-rulemaking process, the privacy agency held stakeholder and informational sessions and received written comments (see 2205040043, 2203300064 and 2203290062). The CPPA meeting continued after our deadline.

The California Public Utilities Commission will accept applications for various broadband funding programs starting in the next two months, said Commissioner Darcie Houck at a partially virtual California Broadband Council meeting Wednesday. The CPUC expects to accept grant applications for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) adoption, consortiums and housing accounts and the $50 million Local Agency Technical Assistance program in June or July, said Houck. The CPUC expects to accept proposals for the $2 billion last-mile federal funding account in July, she said. The agency aims to release a straw proposal for the $750 million Loan Loss Reserve Fund in August, with comments and workshops to follow, the commissioner said. The CPUC plans to release a proposal to update CASF infrastructure account rules by the end of Q2 this year, she said. Houck is “very aware” $2 billion won’t be enough for the last-mile program but hopes the state will soon get much more from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, she said. The CPUC is developing a framework to define essential broadband service affordability standards, said Communications Division Director Rob Osborn: Expect a proposed decision coming in June or July. More granular broadband data, based on location rather than census block, is due June 1 and the commission hopes to publish it by year-end, he said. California’s State Transportation Agency and Transportation Department (CalTrans) aim by Dec. 31 to complete a dig smart policy that would allow for collocation of underground conduits, said CalTrans Broadband Coordinator Elizabeth Dooher.

A New York state Republican wondered if part of a proposed 95 cent surcharge in Albany County to fund E911 would be diverted to other purposes. The Assembly Local Governments Committee unanimously cleared A-9269 at a livestreamed Wednesday meeting, sending it to the Ways and Means Committee. Assemblyman Jeff Gallahan (R) asked if the proposed surcharge is “100% going to this project or is there any money split off from that 95 cents for other purposes?” Chairman Fred Thiele (D) answered, “these funds are dedicated to the E911 program.” New York diverted $100.7 million (41.7%) of its state 911 fee revenue to the general fund in 2020, showed the FCC’s most recent report on the subject (see 2201070049). The Senate could vote soon on its version (S-8246) after sending it to third reading Wednesday.

A Pennsylvania Assembly panel showed appetite for a comprehensive privacy bill at a hearing livestreamed Wednesday. Microsoft supported the measure while other witnesses sought minor edits. Elsewhere, the Louisiana House delayed a floor vote on its state privacy bill for the third straight day. Lawmakers in each state are looking to follow California, Virginia, Colorado, Utah and Connecticut in passing broad privacy laws.

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission deferred deciding if it should rehear or reconsider its 2-1 February decision to deny eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation to LTD broadband. LTD won about $46.6 million in 10-year Rural Digital Opportunity Fund support for South Dakota, one of multiple states where it’s run into obstacles getting ETC designation (see 2205170058). LTD Broadband wants to present new evidence, which wasn’t available at an evidentiary hearing prior to the PUC’s decision, showing that the company can fulfill its RDOF commitment, said its attorney Jason Sutton of Boyce at a livestreamed hearing Tuesday. If granted rehearing, LTD plans to file an amended application “that may withdraw its requests for designation in some of the census blocks that are currently being served or built out,” he said. If the PUC keeps its decision to deny LTD’s application, “we're going to end up with consumers that don't have broadband,” he said. The South Dakota Telecommunications Association doesn’t think additional evidence will show LTD is “getting it done,” said Executive Director Kara Semmler, urging the PSC to deny LTD’s petition. The RDOF winner can always file a new application for the commission to open a new docket, she said. Don't "decide what to do based on an imaginary request" by LTD to amend its application, she said. Commissioner Gary Hanson, who had voted against denying the company’s original application, asked how the commission can object to rehearing when it doesn’t know whether the evidence LTD seeks to submit is valid. Answering a question by Chairman Chris Nelson, South Dakota PUC staff attorney Amanda Reiss said she isn’t sure if the commission has ever allowed an ETC application to be amended. Staff disagrees the commission made any legal error in its initial order, but commission rules allow for a rehearing on additional evidence, she said. Filing a fresh application at the PUC could cause the FCC to decide LTD filed its ETC application too late and deny funding. If the PUC denies rehearing or reconsideration, he warned, LTD will appeal in court. The state commission didn’t specify how long it would defer action, a spokesperson said.

Don’t try to expand state authority to VoIP and wireless, industry warned the Iowa Utilities Board in Friday comments in docket NOI-2021-0002. IUB Chair Geri Huser said in December the agency plans to finalize a draft bill on telecom statutory changes for the 2023 legislative session, while pushing back on industry concerns the state commission is angling to expand its telecom authority at a December meeting (see 2112130049). A revised draft released last week fails to address industry concerns, commented Lumen, warning the IUB to expect opposition. One problematic section may allow the IUB to determine a service is an essential communication service and broadly regulate it, Lumen said. Another part includes VoIP as a telecom service that the board can regulate, despite the 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals finding VoIP is an information service, it said. And Lumen raised concerns with the draft possibly allowing investigations into whether an interexchange carrier is providing any service in a nondiscriminatory fashion. "Lumen is not aware of a nondiscrimination requirement associated with broadband services, and any attempt to regulate service quality of broadband services would face an inevitable court challenge.” Proposed complaint rules may exceed IUB jurisdiction, said CTIA: Mandatory administrative assessments "would disproportionately burden wireless providers." The draft could “subject VoIP and wireless to regulation by the IUB in a manner that is preempted by federal law,” warned AT&T, which also cited the 8th Circuit. “Wireless services have been deregulated in Iowa since 1986, and VoIP has never been regulated in Iowa.” Keep that deregulation going, agreed Verizon. "As there does not appear to be any evidence that the statute and rules are not working as currently written and with no deadline mandate, we ask that the Board take the time and careful consideration necessary to work through the implications of these sweeping changes.” The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities also opposed the board expanding regulatory authority. The IUB plans a workshop on the matter Thursday at 8 a.m. CDT.