Washington state should develop its own broadband map, said the state broadband office’s director, Mark Vasconi, at a hearing livestreamed Wednesday. The state’s Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee heard testimony but didn’t vote on SB-5718. Vasconi said he was neutral on the bill, which would require his office to develop and maintain a broadband map showing serviceable locations and service capabilities by July 1, 2024. The bill also would require the office to update the map at least twice a year. “We need more precise data” than FCC maps show, but the proposed due date is a “lofty aspiration,” commented Vasconi. Pressed by Sen. Shelly Short (R) if that should be delayed, Vasconi said “more time is always better than less.” The office can do it by July 1, 2024, but it would need to hire more people, he said. The House Innovation Committee advanced that chamber’s version (HB-1746) Tuesday.
A Missouri bill to protect streaming services from video service provider franchise fees advanced Tuesday. The Senate Commerce Committee vote 8-1 to recommend passing SB-152, despite local governments telling senators at a hearing last week the bill is premature (see 2302070046).
The Wyoming Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee voted 3-2 Monday to adopt House Bill 65, which sets a July 1 deadline for the state Department of Health to designate crisis centers to provide 24/7 988 crisis call center services. The bill also gives the Health Department flexibility in providing mobile crisis response teams, testified Andi Summerville, Wyoming Association of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers executive director. It also would provide immunity for telecom providers similar to what they have for 911, she said. Wyoming was the last state in the nation to set up in-state crisis call centers, Summerville said, noting the call centers that went live in August 2020 have to date handled more than 10,000 calls. State Health Department Director Stefan Johansson said the state has funded Lifeline operations through summer 2025. He said there was a proposal in the House for a trust fund, but that was stripped out and instead Health is to bring standard budget requests annually. A variety of supporters testified about the bill, including the Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne, the Wyoming Business Alliance and the Wyoming School Boards Association.
Wireless workers at AT&T, represented by the Communications Workers of America, reached a tentative agreement for a new contract covering more than 7,000 employees in nine southeast states, CWA said Monday. The four-year contract “includes substantial raises to base wages with adjustments for inflation, job title upgrades, paid parental leave, improved overtime language, new stipends for work-from-home agents, enhanced job security protections, additional commuter benefits, increased severance payments, and more improvements,” CWA said. The states covered are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, plus the U.S. Virgin Islands, a spokesperson said.
The California Public Utilities Commission may vote March 16 to approve an overlay for Los Angeles area codes 213 and 323, said a Thursday proposed decision in docket A.22-08-009. The new code is expected to be implemented in nine months, it said.
State legislators passed a bill to extend the sunset of the Wyoming Telecommunications Act by two years until July 1, 2025. The House voted 61-1 Thursday to pass SB-2 after the Senate voted 21-10 on Jan. 16.
A West Virginia distracted-driving bill passed the House in an 88-6 vote Friday and will go to the Senate. HB-2218 expands the state’s existing prohibitions while carving out smartwatches.
The Mississippi Senate passed a bill to ban TikTok on state government devices. The Senate voted 51-0 Thursday to pass SB-2140, sending it to the House. The same day, the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee voted 15-0 to clear a House-passed bill (HB-1575) to require online safety education for children. Several state legislatures are considering TikTok bans. A Virginia House-passed bill cleared a Senate committee earlier this week (see 2302090032). More TikTok ban bills are set for hearing Monday. The Missouri House Homeland Security Committee plans to weigh HB-919, while the Kansas House Legislative Modernization Committee is scheduled to consider HB-2314. Nine Republican senators in Pennsylvania introduced a TikTok bill (SB-379) Thursday.
Comments are due March 27 on risk assessments, cybersecurity audits and automated decision-making, said the California Privacy Protection Agency. The agency released an invitation for comments Friday on a rulemaking ordered a week earlier (see 2302030065).
A Virginia Senate panel “passed by indefinitely” a House-passed bill (HB-1688) to set children’s privacy rules (see 2302060050 and 2301300037). The Senate General Laws and Technology Committee voted 15-0 Wednesday for the legislative maneuver that can signal a bill's defeat. It doesn't stop the committee from bringing back the bill before its deadline. The same committee passed by indefinitely the Senate version (SB-1026) last month. But the panel supported a House-passed bill to ban TikTok on state government devices, voting 12-3 Wednesday to send HB-2385 to the Finance and Appropriations Committee.