"We have not ruled out any options” to respond to two Utah social media bills signed Thursday by Gov. Spencer Cox (R), said Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) State Director Khara Boender Friday. Cox signed SB-152 which starting March 1 will require a social media company to verify age and require parental consent for any Utah resident under 18 seeking to open an account. He also signed HB-311, which will require parental consent for users under 18 and prohibit social media platforms “from using a design or feature that the company knows causes a minor to have an addiction to a social media platform.” Starting March 1, the state could penalize social platforms $250,000 for “for each practice, design, or feature shown to have caused addiction,” and up to $2,500 per minor exposed to the addictive feature. Parents could sue companies directly for financial, physical or emotional harms in certain circumstances. Utah created a website on the social media rules and Cox tweeted, “We’re no longer willing to let social media companies continue to harm the mental health of our youth.” Tech groups CCIA and NetChoice sued other states for social media laws. "CCIA is concerned whenever lawmakers enact measures that would result in additional privacy issues or a loss of beneficial information and services,” Boender said. “It is unfortunate that bills intended to restrict access for younger users may impact those who rely on creative outlets and support communities online, but not available in their physical location.” NetChoice said the bills are unconstitutional and will require businesses to collect more sensitive personal data to verify age. Also Thursday, Cox signed a public safety bill (SB-212), including a provision allowing agencies to create a public safety answering point to provide 911 service to noncontiguous areas (see 2302160026).

A Connecticut House panel advanced a bill to make oversight, accountability and labor standards for state broadband spending of federal funds. The Labor and Public Employees voted 9-3 for HB-6862 Thursday.

The Utah Public Service Commission should think twice about repealing its extended area service (EAS) rules, commenters said last week. The PSC sought comment last month on scrapping its rule 347 (see 2302220040). The Utah Rural Telecom Association isn’t sure what the PSC “is attempting to achieve” with the possible repeal, the industry group said in docket 23-R347-01. "The EAS Rule was established over 20 years ago as a means for companies to establish unlimited local calling for an extended area (between exchanges in communities of interest) for a flat fee,” and “continues to be relevant today.” Eliminating EAS could affect providers' revenue and state USF, the association said. Customer EAS revenue offset some rural telcos' costs, "likely reducing the ILECs' draws from” Utah USF (UUSF). "Requiring a provider to provide unlimited local calling between all of its exchanges without any EAS rate element would decrease toll revenues which could ... increase a provider’s reliance on the UUSF." The group added, “While some aspects of the EAS rule may be outdated when viewed from the lens of modern digital switches, URTA believes that the EAS Rule is workable as it is enacted and should not be eliminated so long as there remain tariffed EAS services.” The Utah Commerce Department’s Division of Public Utilities said it doesn’t “feel that Rule 347 should be repealed but does feel that the rule needs to be updated to match changes that have occurred in the telecom industry over the last 20 years.” The Utah Office of Consumer Services (OCS) doesn’t have enough information to know the impact of repealing the EAS rule, it said. "However, given the substantial uncertainties … coupled with the fact that the rule as written does not currently create difficulties in Utah telecom regulation, the OCS notes that the best approach may be to leave the rule intact.” If the PSC wants to move forward, OCS suggested holding a technical conference or allowing discovery to get more information.

The Vermont House agreed to extend a state telecom siting process by three years Wednesday. H-110 would extend the sunset on the 2007-established Section 248(a) procedure until July 1, 2026, while making no changes to the process (see 2303160049). The bill goes next to the Senate.

Governors signed bills on TikTok, telemarketing and streaming TV this week. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed SB-20 to ban TikTok on state devices Wednesday. The bill passed the legislature last week with 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 (see 2303160025). The Idaho legislature passed a TikTok ban earlier this week (see 2303220031). Mississippi telemarketing oversight will move to the attorney general’s office from the Public Service Commission. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) Wednesday signed HB-1225, transferring all telephone solicitation administrative, investigative and enforcement duties to the state AG, effective July 1. Satellite and streaming TV aren’t video services that must pay franchise fees, said a Tennessee bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Bill Lee (R). HB-487 by Rep. Clark Boyd (R) earlier passed the House and Senate in near-unanimous votes.

New Hampshire ILECs could seek relief of carrier of last resort obligations at the state energy department, under a bill passed Wednesday by the House. State lawmakers passed an amended HB-257 in a voice vote. The department must approve the petition if it finds at least one alternative wireline facilities-based voice provider with service to at least 95% of a municipality’s households and at least one mobile telecom provider with service to at least 97% of households there. Or the department could approve the petition if it finds at least one provider other than the ILEC received state, federal or local funding for the entire municipality.

The District of Columbia still fails to meet national 911 standards, D.C. Auditor Kathleen Patterson said Thursday. The auditor released a second update to an October 2021 report on the D.C. Office of Unified Communications (OUC). In 99,000 priority medical calls from September 2021 through August 2022, OUC failed to comply with national standards for time to answer “for roughly half the time and was not in compliance with the 60-second answer-to-notification requirement at any time,” wrote Patterson in a cover letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D). "Even more serious than failure to meet these national standards is the agency’s failure to be accurate and transparent in describing after-action reviews of the July 3 and Aug. 9 incidents when young District residents Sevyn Schatzman-Chase and Aaron Boyd, Jr., respectively, lost their lives. In one case OUC failed to acknowledge that the call taker recorded the wrong address after the correct address had been displayed on a locator map.” Thursday’s report said OUC completed seven of 31 recommendations in the October 2021 audit, made partial headway on 17 and “minimal progress” on seven. In a March 10 response to a draft report, acting Director Heather McGaffin said OUC "made great strides to implement the recommendations" since the auditor's September update: “I simultaneously acknowledge there is still work to be done.” OUC believes it completed 23 recommendations and expects to finish the remaining eight by summer's end, she said. McGaffin noted 911 call volume keeps increasing. Patterson wrote Thursday she's “concerned that the most recent accounting by the agency appears to significantly overstate actions taken” since the September status report. McGaffin, Bower’s nominee to be OUC’s permanent director, pledged at a confirmation hearing last week to improve processes and be more transparent (see 2303150071).

A Senate panel advanced a bill to end a 2005 state ban on municipal broadband. The Senate Local Government Committee voted 5-0 Thursday to send SB-183 to the floor, at a webcast hearing. Colorado’s broadband office and local governments supported the measure. SB-183 would repeal many parts of the state ban known as SB-152, which could inhibit the state from spending federal money if they remained, said sponsor Sen. Kevin Priola (R). The bill will help Colorado achieve 99% broadband access by 2027, he said. Even those who supported the 2015 law support SB-183, said another sponsor, Sen. Mark Baisley (R). Local ballot votes to opt out of SB-152 are often successful but costly, said Colorado Municipal League legislative advocate Jaclyn Terwey, supporting the bill. Fears that local governments would compete with ISPs haven’t come to pass, said attorney Ken Fellman, representing the Colorado Communications & Utility Alliance. Local governments want to help the private sector with broadband costs through partnerships, he said. Unless passed, counties and municipalities that haven't opted out could be ineligible for federal funding, said Colorado Broadband Office Executive Director Brandy Reitter. The bill includes some protections to avoid unfair competition, said Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association Executive Director Jeff Weist. He said the industry group is officially neutral on the bill.

North Dakota House appropriators wrestled with how to pay for 988 after legislators stripped a proposed 30-cent fee on phone bills from a funding bill (SB-2149). Industry opposed the surcharge, which would have applied to landline and postpaid cellphones, Rep. Craig Headland (R) said at a livestreamed House Appropriations Committee hearing Thursday. “The pushback ... was that those bills are already loaded up with fees.” North Dakota Public Service Chairman Randy Christmann (R) shared similar concerns with lawmakers, said Headland. The bill now proposes a $2 million appropriation from the general fund, but the authors “still don’t know what the right number is,” conceded Headland: A 30-cent fee would have generated about $4.2 million. Committee member John Nelson (D) suggested funding the program through the health and human services budget at an even smaller amount: “We need another $2 million added to that budget about as badly as we need more snow in Bismarck right now.” North Dakota must make sure it adequately funds 988, said Rep. Karla Hanson (D): “North Dakota has a huge suicide problem.”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) signed a bill Tuesday to require online safety education for children. HB-1575 sets up an internet safety advisory council to advance the media literacy effort.