A Maryland telemarketing bill passed the state Senate with amendments Friday. Senators voted 46-0 for HB-37, which is modeled on Florida and Oklahoma telemarketing laws that go beyond the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 2303100078). The House earlier passed the bill 134-0 but now must concur with the Senate changes.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission approved a settlement between Frontier Communications and the state’s Morgan County to resolve the county’s complaint about 911 service. Commissioners agreed Wednesday with staff’s recommendation to adopt the pact as the resolution to case 22-0686-T-C (see 2303240063).
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission seeks responses by April 17 to a Wednesday motion by the Minnesota Telecom Alliance and Minnesota Rural Electric Association in a review of LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier designation, Administrative Law Judge James LaFave ordered Friday. And the ALJ set a telephonic prehearing conference for April 24 at 11 a.m. CST on the motion in docket 22-221. The associations asked the PUC to suspend LTD’s ETC designation until the company can show the PUC that it can meet obligations to serve about 102,000 locations. “Developments occurring since the Commission initiated this proceeding have confirmed LTD’s inability to perform its ETC obligations and heightened the risk to the public interest from allowing its expanded ETC designation to remain in effect,” the groups said. LaFave paused the commission’s LTD review in January (see 2301180038).
New Jersey Assembly members supported an inquiry into social media effects on adolescents. The Assembly voted 71-0 Thursday for SB-715 to set up a study commission. The Senate earlier voted 37-0 but must vote again to concur with Assembly amendments. The Arkansas legislature sent the governor a bill (SB-66) Thursday that would create liability for publishing pornography online without performing “reasonable age verification” of the user. The Texas Senate voted 30-1 Wednesday to pass SB-1602 to amend the state’s litigated social media censorship law. It would require that any action under the law against social media platforms be brought in a Texas court and “the law of this state applies to the action.” In Iowa, a House Ways and Means subcommittee voted 2-1 Thursday to advance HB-526, which would ban social media platforms from allowing children under 18 to open accounts. The California Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-0 Tuesday to pass along SB-60 to the Appropriations Committee. The bill would require social media platforms to remove posts on illegal drug sales.
Both Kansas legislative chambers passed a bill to explicitly exempt streaming services and direct broadcast satellite operators from video service provider franchise fees. The House voted 124-0 Wednesday for SB-144, which passed the Senate in late February. The bill still needs a signature from Gov. Laura Kelly (D).
The Oregon House passed a broadband bill to require the Oregon Business Development Department to provide loans and grants for access, affordability and adoption. The House voted 43-15 for HB-3201, sending it to the Senate. In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed SB-155, which will increase annual state broadband funding to $30 million from $8 million. The bill also freezes annual reduction support payments for eligible ILECs at 2023 rates through 2026 and then end the payments (see 2303170038).
The California Office of Administrative Law approved the California Privacy Protection Agency’s rulemaking package for the California Consumer Privacy Act Thursday (see 2302100032). The regulations are effective immediately. They update existing CCPA regulations to “harmonize them with amendments” adopted under Proposition 24, “operationalize new rights and concepts introduced by the CPRA to provide clarity and specificity to implement the law; and reorganize and consolidate requirements set forth in the law to make the regulations easier to follow and understand.” They allow consumers to “knowingly and freely negotiate with a business over the business’s use of the consumer’s personal information, the CPPA said.
Arizona and Florida legislators advanced social media bills Tuesday. The Arizona Commerce Committee split 6-4 to clear SB-1106, which would prohibit websites from deplatforming candidates and require them to publish and follow standards for censoring users. The Computer and Communications Industry Association opposed the bill. The bill “may raise constitutional concerns, conflict with federal law, and risk impeding digital services companies in their efforts to restrict inappropriate or harmful content on their platforms,” it said in written testimony Tuesday. Florida’s bill (SB-52) to require social media literacy education cleared the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee in a 19-0 vote. It got bipartisan support at an Education Committee hearing last month (see 2302070042). CCIA, which is suing Florida for a 2021 social media law, supported education-focused measures (see 2303010062).
New York state will use $100 million from the U.S. Treasury Capital Projects Fund to connect 100,000 households to affordable broadband, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and other state leaders said Wednesday. "This critical funding to unlock high-speed internet for thousands of New York renters will build on the success of our ConnectALL broadband initiative while supporting the goals our five-year plan to build and preserve more affordable housing,” Hochul said. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) said the money “will go directly towards closing the digital divide.” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) is “proud,” she said. “During the pandemic, we saw how important high-quality broadband is for business, health care, school, and more.” The funding is a “key piece” of the Biden administration’s broadband investment, said Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo.
Maryland’s governor must include $12 million for the 988 mental-health line in the FY 2025 budget, said a bill passed Wednesday by the legislature. The House voted 135-0 for SB-3. The Senate passed it 46-0 Jan. 30.