Don’t let anyone say a Wisconsin privacy bill is moving too fast, state Rep. Shannon Zimmerman (R) said during a livestreamed hearing Tuesday. The Wisconsin Senate Consumer Protection Committee heard testimony on Zimmerman’s AB-466 and Senate companion SB-642 but didn’t vote. The Assembly last month unanimously passed AB-466, which would allow consumers to request and delete information that certain data controllers hold (see 2311150039). Versions of the bill appeared in three straight legislative sessions, said Zimmerman. “That’s six years of my life.” Zimmerman said he wants to avoid a state privacy law “tapestry.” Instead, the Republican hopes to push Congress to make a good federal law, he said. Wisconsin’s bill is similar to Virginia’s “pretty darn good” privacy law, he added. The main difference is that, in Wisconsin, consumer complaints wouldn’t go to the state AG, Zimmerman said. Instead, they would be handled by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, an existing state agency that seems more suited to the task, he said. The AG would remain the Wisconsin bill’s sole enforcer, however. BSA|The Software Alliance supported the bill during Tuesday's hearing. In the absence of Congress approving a national privacy bill, “and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel anytime soon,” Wisconsin should be the 14th state with a privacy law, Head of State Advocacy Matthew Lenz said. The bill "imposes strong obligations on all companies that handle consumer data," while being "interoperable" with other states' laws, he said.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission delayed a hearing planned Wednesday in its Windstream 911 outage probe due to the illness of “a key staff member,” a PSC spokesperson said Tuesday. The commission rescheduled the hearing for Dec. 28 at 9 a.m. CST. The commission plans a hearing Jan. 4 on Lumen’s recent 911 outage (see 2312060060).

A Frontier Communications rate case in Arizona can move forward, Arizona Corporation Commission staff said. Frontier’s application and schedules were filed Aug. 30, covered Arizona's White Mountains region and met the commission’s sufficiency requirements, Utilities Division Telecom and Energy Chief Barbara Keene wrote to the company Monday. Separately, staff asked an administrative law judge to set a procedural schedule that would extend into next fall. Under that schedule, staff and intervenor direct testimony on competitive classification and nonessential service determinations would be due May 3; their testimony on service cost, rate design and state USF issues would be due May 31. Frontier’s rebuttal would be due July 26, staff and intevenors’ rebuttal Aug. 23 and Frontier’s rejoinder Sept. 6. Staff suggested a prehearing conference Sept. 11 and a hearing Sept. 23. “Staff believes that the proposed schedule is reasonable in light of the potential number of issues presented in this case,” it said. ALJ Julia Matter in a Tuesday order scheduled a teleconference for Jan. 2 at 10 a.m MST to discuss procedure and next steps (docket T-03214A-23-0250). Frontier is the only company receiving Arizona USF high-cost support. The commission earlier decided to delay possible sweeping USF changes due to the upcoming Frontier rate case (see 2303160069). Commissioners declined to raise USF contribution rates earlier this month (see 2312050032).

Washington state will weigh AI legislation next year, Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) said Tuesday. Ferguson worked with state Sen. Joe Nguyen (D) and state Rep. Travis Couture (R) on prefiled bills (SB-5838 and HB-1934) to create an AI task force, the AG office said. The task force will convene industry, civil liberty groups, AI experts and others to consider risks and benefits and make recommendations to the legislature, it said. “As we celebrate [AI's] benefits, we must also ensure we protect against the potential for irresponsible use and unintentional consequences,” Ferguson said.

The California Public Utilities Commission set deadlines on Blue Casa Telephone’s application to relinquish its eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation and discontinue local exchange and interexchange services in AT&T and Frontier Communications territory. Frontier should respond to the application by Jan. 2, said assigned Commissioner Darcie Houck’s scoping memo Friday (docket A.23-09-006). Then, opening testimony is due Jan. 29 and replies Feb. 12, it said. Any joint motion for evidentiary hearing should be filed by Feb. 16, the memo said. Responding earlier to the application, AT&T said it would need about 10 weeks to migrate customers if it's ordered to be a default carrier for customers who haven’t made other selections.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission will soon issue a draft order to implement a 2023 state law that continues until Sept. 1 subsidies from Colorado's high-cost support mechanism (HCSM) to a dozen rural telecom providers. After nobody appeared during a virtual hearing Monday to comment, Administrative Law Judge Harris Adams said he would “take the matter under advisement and issue a written recommended decision.” In an Oct. 25 NPRM (docket C23-0730), the PUC proposed extending HCSM support from Dec. 1 and establishing that in 2024 the commission will allocate 100% of the money collected, “minus the Commission’s administrative costs and distributions to wireline and wireless rural telecommunication providers.”

The Utah Public Service Commission has an "exceedingly transparent" process for determining Utah USF (UUSF) distributions and surcharges, the PSC said in a Monday order. The commission responded to CTIA’s call for greater transparency, while nearly doubling the surcharge to 71 cents per access line, from 36 cents, effective Dec. 29. The commission proposed the increase last September (see 2309200047). CTIA complained in comments Friday that the Utah Department of Public Utilities (DPU) didn’t sufficiently explain the purpose for additional funding “or whether such surcharges are prudent and necessary.” The wireless industry association said, “Appropriate transparency is particularly crucial for Utah’s wireless consumers because of the significant economic burden they bear supporting the UUSF.” The Utah commission “respect[s] CTIA’s concerns around transparency but note[s] they focus exclusively on one action request response issued by the DPU,” the order said. “That filing by the DPU was a meaningful, but single, component of a fulsome and transparent regulatory process that involved both the DPU, the PSC, and multiple opportunities for any interested person to provide comments.”

The California Public Utilities Commission cleared $6.7 million in digital inclusion grants under the California Advanced Services Fund broadband adoption account Thursday. The CPUC approved 21 grants to the California Emerging Technology Fund, Oakland Tech Exchange, Sacred Heart Community Service, Sourcewise and California cities Lynwood and La Puente. The agency said it expects projects will provide digital literacy training for 12,454 people, expand broadband access for 14,265 and sign up 30,580 for high-speed internet. The CPUC also approved $441,374 in grants under its broadband public housing account to expand wireline and wireless infrastructure and bring free broadband service to 306 living units of publicly supported housing.

Expect state legislative focus on children’s online safety to continue in 2024, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said Friday. State legislators introduced about 150 bills in more than 35 states dealing with children’s online safety in 2023, a CCIA report said. Prohibiting addictive algorithms and requiring age-appropriate design, age verification or parental consent were some of the items covered, the report said. The internet industry group raised concerns that states’ proposed laws conflict with the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires users to verify their own age and doesn’t hold websites liable if the user gives incorrect information. Bills requiring age verification and parental consent for accessing certain websites also could create privacy and security concerns because companies would have to collect government IDs, credit cards or other personal information to comply, said CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender. “And younger users could be barred from accessing information and communities of support.”

State broadband leaders and corrections officials should "work together to deliver digital equity to the incarcerated people in prisons, jails and detention centers across the country," a nonprofit incarcerated people’s communications services provider said in an open letter Monday. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s broadband, equity access and deployment "and digital equity funding provide a generational opportunity where digital equity for incarcerated people can finally be achieved," wrote Ameelio Chief Operating Officer April Feng. The IPCS provider recommended states identify correctional facilities as community anchor institutions to give facilities access to federal broadband funding and consider legislation lowering costs for communications services. The group also urged states to invest in digital literacy in correctional facilities, saying the lack of such infrastructure is "hindering digital adoption inside the walls."