Oklahoma legislators passed a bill to set up a state broadband office, council and governing board, and create a broadband grant program and revolving fund (see 2204070027). The Senate voted 43-0 Thursday for HB-3363. And the Senate voted 45-0 for the House-passed HB-1123 prohibiting class-action lawsuits by landowners against companies seeking to expand usage of easements for broadband (see 2204140047). Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed HB-3835 to set maximum pole-attachment rates when cooperatives and communications companies can’t agree to a negotiated rate (see 2204270026). Also Thursday, the Colorado legislature passed HB-1306 with a 35-0 Senate vote. It would update rules for awarding grant money under the American Rescue Plan Act to comply with finalized federal regulations (see 2204130071).

New York got $7.2 million in federal funding for the 988 mental health hotline coming July 16, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Friday. "The transition to 988 gives New York State a unique opportunity to strengthen its behavioral health crisis response system and increase its capacity to meet the needs of New Yorkers," the governor said.

Dismiss businesses’ remaining claim against Maryland’s digital ad tax, said the state in a Friday brief at the U.S. District Court in Baltimore (case 1:21-cv-00410-DKC). After ruling in March that the Tax Injunction Act precluded the court from reviewing the tax itself, Judge Lydia Griggsby ordered briefs in early April on the constitutionality of Maryland banning companies from passing the tax’s costs to consumers (see 2204090002). The pass-through regulates conduct, not speech, said Maryland: And the prohibition doesn’t “purport to impose any restriction on what the taxpayer may say to the customer, or anyone else, about the tax cost or any other subject.” Plaintiff U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the pass-through regulates speech. “The regulation is plainly content-based, and thus presumptively unconstitutional. It would be permissible only if it were narrowly tailored to further a compelling governmental interest, and the prohibition here does not come close to meeting that rigorous standard.” The ban’s only apparent interest is “to insulate lawmakers from political responsibility for the” tax, the chamber said.

Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) members voted unanimously to grant a motion deferring discussion on Alaska USF matters during a virtual meeting Wednesday (see 2204130061). Despite voting in favor, Chairman Robert Pickett noted he had “some very strong reservations” about doing so: “I think there are some things that would be helpful, but they’ll just have to come out at a later date.” Also adopted was an order to establish a comment period of 30 days, 20 for replies, on RCA staff and Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition proposals.

The Oklahoma legislature sent Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) a broadband bill (HB-3835) Tuesday that would set maximum pole-attachment rates when cooperatives and communications companies can’t agree to a negotiated rate (see 2204140047). The Senate supported the bill 44-1 Monday.

YouMail is helping Michigan and North Carolina attorneys general fight robocalls, the robocall blocking service said Wednesday. North Carolina AG Josh Stein (D) said his office is using YouMail data in his effort to target gateway phone companies allowing illegal international robocalls (see 2204210025). The YouMail partnership “will greatly assist our efforts to combat these nuisance and illegal calls," said Michigan AG Dana Nessel (D).

Reject cable opposition to a digital equity bill that would require the California Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules on equal access to broadband, said former California Senate Majority Leader Richard Polanco (D) Tuesday. The Assembly Judiciary Committee advanced AB-2753 to the Appropriations Committee later at the livestreamed hearing. “The cable industry has a place and is a stakeholder,” but “we are facing incredible disproportionate impacts in our local communities,” said Polanco, representing the California Emerging Technology Fund. “The data is very clear that there is a red line” in broadband deployment, he said. California Cable and Telecommunications Association Vice President-Governmental Affairs Bernie Orozco responded, “No one has done more for broadband deployment and adoption than the cable industry.” Polanco’s redlining claims are “upsetting,” he said. “I would love to see the studies that show that there is redlining.” CCTA says AB-2753 could lead to much litigation and duplicates existing FCC and CPUC proceedings (see 2204070028). Incumbent ISP opposition is typical, said committee Chair Mark Stone (D). "The providers cannot sit there and say we're doing everything when in fact they've been for years blocking a lot of these efforts to truly get broadband where it’s needed the most."

Connecticut pole owners and users sought some changes to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s one-touch, make-ready proposal, in Monday exceptions filed before a hearing scheduled for Friday. PURA proposed FCC-like state rules earlier this month (see 2204120044). "While adopting OTMR is a positive development that will surely speed broadband deployment throughout Connecticut, another step is needed,” said CTIA in docket 19-01-52RE01. “The Authority should adopt self-help provisions for wireless attachments." Otherwise, PURA “runs the considerable risk of having to reopen this docket yet again if it finds that its solution to landline deployment delays has given rise to delayed wireless deployment,” CTIA said. The New England Cable and Telecommunications Association (NECTA) asked PURA to clarify “cost sharing to ensure that pole owners do not improperly delay correction of code violations or pole maintenance work required for the pole owners’ and single pole administrators’ (SPAs) own service requirements, resulting in unnecessary broadband deployment delays and unfair cost shifting to attachers.” Also, make clear that attachers have pre- and post-complaint discovery rights like under the FCC regime, “shorten the timeline for claims arising from denials or delays of access to facilities,” and “clarify that an existing attacher has a right to move its own facilities before OTMR work commences,” NECTA said. Several groups, including NECTA, Crown Castle and two Connecticut agencies, separately urged PURA to allow a field-side attachment process called “boxing.” The Office of Consumer Counsel and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection wrote, “Limiting this practice could result in inhibiting competition and higher construction costs, reducing the ability to serve the Connecticut consumers that currently have no access to broadband." Continuing to raise safety and collective bargaining issues, Communications Workers of America urged PURA to delay OTMR implementation “until after the conclusion of a thorough formal investigation of the safety issues and concerns." Eversource Energy urged PURA to give parties a reasonable amount of time to implement OTMR. Don't fine United Illuminating for a third party's failure to comply with the order, UI said.

T-Mobile misled the California Public Utilities Commission with false statements about its CDMA shutdown and should pay nearly $5.3 million for violating the commission rule 1.1, ruled CPUC Administrative Law Judges Karl Bemesderfer and Robert Mason Monday. The decision in docket A.18-07-011 will become final in about a month if no party appeals and no commissioner requests review. While penalizing T-Mobile for statements made to the commission, the CPUC rejected a Dish petition last month to modify the state commission’s April 2020 T-Mobile/Sprint OK (see 2203170072). T-Mobile "falsely represented that there would be a three-year customer migration period (2020-2023)" for Sprint customers to T-Mobile and Boost Mobile customers to Dish Network, the ALJs wrote. Saying that offense was serious, the ALJs said they scaled back the penalty in consideration of recent T-Mobile/Dish talks to resolve their dispute. The CPUC relied on various T-Mobile representations about "a three-year migration period, which were made on the record and under oath,” when it included that migration timeline in its order approving the deal, the ALJs said. "At no time prior to announcing that it planned to end the migration period" Dec. 31 "did T-Mobile alert the Commission and DISH that the various representations quoted above had been misinterpreted." They said it was "telling that, except for T-Mobile, the Commission and all other parties to the proceeding came away from” a Dec. 5, 2019, hearing “with the understanding that the migration period would be three years.” The ALJs rejected “T-Mobile’s attempt to whitewash” Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray’s testimony at a September 2021 hearing (see 2109210040 and 2109200065), saying “T-Mobile’s efforts to deny these promises and its expressed intent to shut down its CDMA network prior to the completion of the three-year migration period have misled the Commission.” T-Mobile suggested it was “nothing more than a misunderstanding that does not rise to the level of a Rule 1.1 violation,” but that argument is “factually and legally incorrect," since T-Mobile never tried to correct the record, they said. T-Mobile didn’t comment Tuesday. In a separate matter, the carrier disagreed Monday with the CPUC seeking up to $230 million in possible fines for subsidiary MetroPCS failing to remit California USF payments for prepaid phone service (see 2204250049).

An Oklahoma anti-robocalls bill unanimously cleared the state Senate. Senators voted 40-0 Tuesday for HB-3168, which would prohibit robocalls without prior express written consent and prohibit caller ID spoofing (see 2204070027). The House earlier passed the measure 91-1 but now must concur with Senate changes. Many state legislators are proposing laws to combat unwanted robocalls (see 2204210025).