The Kentucky House unanimously approved a bill authorizing a state broadband office to use federal broadband equity, access and deployment funds. Members voted 95-0 Thursday to send HB-267 to the Senate. Also, that day, the Mississippi House voted 120-0 to pass an ethics measure for its state broadband office. HB-1471 would prohibit Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) officers and employees from accepting or receiving “any gratuity, gift, gift in-kind, money, emolument, or any other pecuniary benefit, either directly or indirectly,” from any broadband provider, association, nonprofit or other entity that works with BEAM. HB-1471 will go to the Senate.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signaled he will sign the legislature’s revised ban restricting kids on social media. Lawmakers approved a revised proposal that includes parental consent after DeSantis vetoed an earlier proposal to ban kids younger than 16 from having social media accounts (see 2403070058). A list of legislative accomplishments this session DeSantis posted on X included “protected children from the harms of social media.” At a Friday news conference alongside the governor, House Speaker Paul Renner (R) said that, with HB-3, “we’ve taken strong action to save our kids and save their childhood.” NetChoice is “disappointed to see Gov. DeSantis sign onto this route,” General Counsel Carl Szabo said. “There are better ways to keep Floridians, their families and their data safe and secure online without violating their freedoms.”

The California Public Utilities Commission voted 4-0 at its open meeting Thursday to adopt changes to the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband public housing account and tribal technical assistance program (docket R.20-08-021). CPUC Commissioner Matthew Baker, appointed Feb. 16, recused himself from the vote because he was previously director of the CPUC’s independent Public Advocates Office, which participated in the proceeding. The order, as revised March 4, includes clarifying that public housing broadband grant recipients should provide free service without government subsidies, among other things (see 2401290059). "To meet our goal to close the digital divide and provide equal opportunity to all Californians, we need to make sure that we can allocate funds in an efficient manner that can meet the needs of our diverse communities,” said Commissioner Darcie Houck, who was assigned to lead the docket. "This decision has been in the works for a long time and is a product of extensive engagement with a diverse group of stakeholders and community groups.” It’s important that public housing receives free broadband service, said President Alice Reynolds as she supported the order.

New Hampshire is the 15th state with a sweeping privacy law. Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signed SB-255 on Wednesday, which provides "transparency about what information is collected, why, and confidence that in the age of AI, steps are taken to protect that data," he said. A West Virginia comprehensive privacy bill passed the Senate on a 27-6 vote Thursday. The Senate asked the House to concur with its amendments to HB-5338. The House previously voted 91-0 for the bill (see 2402280046).

The Florida legislature passed a second try at restricting kids on social media. The House voted 109-4 to concur with the Senate-amended HB-3 on Wednesday. Lawmakers revised the proposal to include parental consent after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) vetoed an earlier proposal (see 2403040054). NetChoice sought another veto in a Thursday letter to DeSantis. HB-3 similarly “would violate Floridians’ constitutional rights and place their privacy at risk,” the tech industry group said. DeSantis didn’t comment Thursday. Two other states advanced social media bills Wednesday. The Iowa House voted 88-6 to pass a bill (HF-2523) that would restrict minors younger than 18 from having social media accounts unless they have parental consent. It's now in the Senate. The Arizona Senate voted 16-14 to pass SB-1124, which would require social platforms to publish standards for deplatforming political candidates.

Massachusetts launched a $22 million residential internet retrofit program to connect public and affordable housing units, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute said Wednesday. MBI said that 22,000 units in 500 affordable housing developments will be eligible for the funding that comes from the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund. Property owners and ISPs will upgrade in-building telecom wiring and other facilities in older developments, it said. Massachusetts Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao said, “Our economic future depends on high-quality internet access for all, especially for low-income populations who have been historically overlooked and disproportionately impacted by the digital divide.” Many public housing buildings are more than 50 years old, said MBI Director Michael Baldino. “Low-income families in these buildings face barriers to accessing the speeds offered by broadband service if the wiring in their apartments pre-dates the internet age.”

The Kentucky House approved a social media bill requiring age verification and setting rules for minors younger than 18. House members voted 94-0 Tuesday for HB-463. Unless a parent consents, a platform would have to limit collection of known minors’ personally identifiable information and restrict minors from making purchases or other financial transactions through the digital service “apart from items protected by the First Amendment,” the bill said. Also, the platform could not share, disclose or sell minors’ personal data, collect their precise geolocation data or show them targeted ads. Among other requirements, the platform would have to try to prevent a known minor’s exposure to obscene content and give supervision tools to parents. The bill will go to the Senate next. In Washington state, the legislature signed off on a bill (SB-5838) establishing an AI task force. The Senate voted 30-19 to concur with House changes and send the final bill to Gov. Jay Inslee (D).

It’s time for Kansas to crystallize 911 as a “state function” by establishing a fee-based agency, Kansas 911 Coordinating Council Chairman Troy Briggs said Wednesday. The Haskell County sheriff supported HB-2690 at a livestreamed Senate Utilities Committee hearing. The proposed state 911 administration shakeup would replace the council with a state 911 board, allow counties to contract with each other to consolidate public safety answering points and require transfer of 911 fees collected from monthly phone bills and prepaid wireless sales to various state 911 funds at the state treasury. The Kansas House last month voted 117-3 for the 911 bill (see 2402230016).

The News/Media Alliance supported an Illinois bill requiring tech platforms to pay media companies usage fees, ahead of a state Senate Executive Committee hearing planned for Wednesday. The Illinois bill (SB-3591) by state Sen. Steve Stadelman (D) would require big tech companies like Meta and Google to pay news publishers a journalism usage fee to use local news content. The California Assembly passed a similar bill (AB-886), but it stalled last year in the Senate (see 2307060034). “The dominant tech platforms share our publishers’ content, keeping our readers on their platforms and showing them ads, while generating tremendous revenue off of our content with no return to news publications,” said News/Media Alliance CEO Danielle Coffey in written remarks. “This broken marketplace must be addressed through government action.”

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska will designate Dish Wireless as an eligible telecom carrier (ETC), the agency ruled Tuesday (docket U-23-049). The RCA waived state facilities requirements. Dish sought to provide Lifeline service in areas where underlying provider AT&T has service (see 2310240003). “We are assured that designating DISH as an ETC will increase the Lifeline participation rate of qualified low-income individuals and further the goal of Congress to provide all individuals with affordable access to telecommunications service,” the RCA said.