The U.S. Chamber of Commerce moved Tuesday to accelerate by a week the briefing schedule in its challenge of Maryland’s digital ad tax, citing the “federal constitutional rights at stake and the harms that will follow from further delay.” The motion (docket 22-2275) calls for the opening brief and appendix to be pushed up to Jan. 17, from Jan. 24, and the answering brief to Feb. 16 from Feb. 23, with the reply brief due March 6. The change in briefing schedule would be sufficient to ensure that briefing is complete at least four weeks in advance of a May oral argument, avoiding further delay “and the attendant damage to appellants’ members’ rights,” the motion said. The state does not consent to the relief requested. The Chamber is appealing the U.S. District Court of Maryland's March decision dismissing businesses' challenge of the tax and the district court's Dec. 2 dismissal of their challenge to the tax's pass-through ban. The pass-through provision is having a “serious chilling effect on what appellants’ members tell their clients on invoices and account statements,” said the motion. Companies have made estimated payments under the ad tax and many will “continue to do so until the legal status of the law is finally resolved,” it said, “yet they remain barred from identifying any corresponding price increases as line-items or separate fees on their customer communications.”

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) is proposing legislation to toughen the state’s rules against robocalls, he said Wednesday. The Robocall Scam Protection Act (HB 105), sponsored by state legislator Rep. Mari Leavitt (D), would make it a violation of the Consumer Protection Act to robocall those on the do-not-call registry, spoof ID or “knowingly facilitate illegal robocalls if you are a voice service provider,” the release said. “Addressing the gap in protections to root out these scams is the least we can do to protect our fellow Washingtonians,” said Leavitt in the release, which compares the bill to similar laws passed in Florida and Oklahoma. The bill would preserve the use of automatic dialers by businesses to contact their existing customers, customers who consented, and customers with whom they have an established business relationship, “as long as the sales message itself is delivered by a live person,” the release said. The bill would also allow for civil litigation against telecom providers, with damages of up to $1,000 per violation, the release said. The state legislature “must give Washingtonians stronger and clearer legal protections against the daily bombardment of illegal robocalls -- and provide additional tools to my office to hold bad actors accountable,” said Ferguson in the release.

A draft decision on Connecticut conduit excavations for telecom and broadband providers could be distributed Jan. 10, said a Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) schedule as updated Thursday (docket 21-12-21). PURA would collect exceptions Jan. 24, hold oral arguments Jan. 27, and vote on a decision Feb. 8, under the tentative plan.

A recommendation to update emergency service network reliability rules may become a Colorado Public Utilities Commission final decision mid-January if no exceptions are filed and the commission doesn’t stay it, Administrative Law Judge Conor Farley said last week. The ALJ released the recommended decision Thursday. Colorado 911 stakeholders agreed to draft rules in September (see 2209200027 and 2209070041).

A state appeals court upheld a 2021 California Public Utilities Commission decision to adopt imputation of net positive retail broadband internet access service revenue of 10 small LECs and their ISP affiliates when calculating California High Cost Fund A (CHCF-A) support. The CPUC adopted the order April 15, 2021, and denied the LECs’ rehearing request Aug. 19 that year. The telcos sought court review of the two decisions in September 2021. In a Dec. 20 unpublished opinion, the 5th District California Court of Appeals rejected the 10 RLECs’ argument that broadband imputation isn't authorized by state law, exceeds the CPUC's authority, is preempted by federal law and is an unconstitutional taking. On the federal preemption issue, the CPUC is right that broadband imputation doesn't directly "impose economic or public utility type regulation on the ISP affiliates,” Justice Donald Franson wrote (case F083339). “It does not directly impose any requirement on their rates and practices, prohibit discrimination, impose tariffing requirements, impose accounting requirements, restrict entry or exist from the ISP business, impose interconnection obligation, or require unbundling or network access.” The CPUC "correctly found that broadband imputation does not impose price controls on ISP affiliates and does not impose any additional regulations affecting their operations." The court disagrees with telcos' argument that broadband imputation's indirect effects result in economic or utility-style regulation of ISPs, Franson added. On the constitutional claim, Franson wrote, “A subsidy is not private property and, therefore, the reduction of the subsidy does not constitute the taking of private property of the telephone companies or the ISP affiliates.” Justices Bert Levy and Kathleen Meehan concurred.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will decide how to proceed with an investigation of Lumen’s CenturyLink, at commissioners’ Jan. 5 meeting at 10 a.m. CST, said a PUC agenda last week. Settlement talks in docket C-20-432 stalled in August (see 2208160036). The Minnesota Commerce Department’s “ongoing investigation into CenturyLink’s performance has exposed serious service quality deficiencies,” the department told the PUC Dec. 9. “CenturyLink’s outside plant performance continues to deteriorate in violation of relevant Commission service quality rules related to plant investment, maintenance, and repair.” The commission should adopt service-quality remedies or hold hearings, it said.

NTIA failed to adequately inform states and localities about important deadlines for the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R) said Thursday. When NTIA said in November that it would use the FCC map for BEAD funding allocations, it didn’t say the FCC deadline for location challenges had been due in September, Hegar’s office said. NTIA told the Texas Broadband Development Office about it in mid-December, “effectively negating the immediate benefit of a bulk location challenge by BDO or Texas communities," said Hegar. “It is unfortunate that NTIA’s failure to communicate these important deadlines has the potential to disadvantage Texas and has effectively shifted the responsibility to BDO and Texas communities to respond with a sense of urgency to a problem that our partners at the federal level created and could resolve.” Hegar, who last week urged the NTIA to extend the Jan. 13 deadline for map challenges by 60 days (see 2212130076), said he will continue to urge NTIA for more time to improve map accuracy. “Allowing additional time to incorporate a bulk location challenge into the map fabric is a meaningful step that NTIA can take to improve BEAD funding decisions.” NTIA didn’t comment.

NTIA unveiled more planning awards through digital equity and broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) programs Thursday. Kansas will get about $5.7 million, including nearly $5 million for BEAD and almost $693,000 for digital equity, NTIA said. New Mexico also will get a similar amount, including $5 million for BEAD and nearly $741,000 for digital equity, NTIA said. Kansas Office of Broadband Development Director Jade Piros de Carvalho said the state will launch planning efforts at a Jan. 19 summit at Wichita State University.

Extend the Jan. 13 deadline for challenging the FCC’s national broadband map for 30 days, said the Vermont Community Broadband Board and the state’s congressional delegation Tuesday. The map will be used to determine broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) support allocations beyond the minimum $100 million each state will receive. The FCC map didn’t include 22% of addresses in the Vermont Public Service Department database, the Vermont groups said. “There are also many addresses that are marked served that are actually not served and/or have poor service. This could have significant impact on the amount of funding that Vermont receives.” NTIA should release the minimum $100 million state allocation quickly, they said. The federal government is evaluating multiple states’ concerns about the imminent challenge deadline, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said Tuesday (see 2212200060).

An internet equity bill passed the D.C. Council on final reading by a 13-0 vote Tuesday. The council voted 12-0 for the bill (24-0200) on first reading earlier this month (see 2212070018). It would expand the Office of Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) purpose statement to include ensuring that residents and businesses can access affordable broadband. And it would require reports. The bill goes next to Mayor Muriel Bowser (D). Congress gets 30 session days to disapprove D.C. bills before they take effect.