Briefs are due April 29 on the constitutionality of Maryland banning companies from passing to consumers costs of the state’s digital ad tax, the U.S. District Court in Baltimore Judge Lydia Griggsby ordered Friday. Responses are due May 13, she said. The judge said a date for oral argument, “if warranted,” is to be determined. Maryland and business challengers supported a May argument (see 2204050037). Griggsby ruled last month the Tax Injunction Act precluded the court from reviewing the tax itself, though it could review the law’s pass-through prohibition (see 2203040060).

Oklahoma broadband and anti-robocall bills sailed through the state Senate Business, Commerce and Tourism Committee. Senators voted 12-0 Thursday for HB-3363, which would set up a state broadband office, council and governing board, and create a broadband grant program and revolving fund, said a summary. It goes next to the Appropriations Committee. The panel voted 11-0 to send to the floor HB-3168, which would prohibit robocalls without prior express written consent and caller ID spoofing. Sen. Cody Rogers (R) asked at the livestreamed hearing if it would also stop robotexts. No, replied Sen. Bill Coleman (R), but it’s a good idea. The House passed both bills last month.

The Maryland Senate passed a proposed update to a state data breach law. Senators voted 45-0 Wednesday for HB-962. The House passed it last month but had to vote again due to Senate amendments. The Senate passed a companion bill, SB-643, last month, which is now pending in the House Economic Matters Committee. The state attorney general’s office supported the measure (see 2203160053).

Washington Utilities and Transportation staff recommended Lumen pay $923,000 for improperly disconnecting customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A staff probe found the company violated an April 2020 proclamation by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) by discontinuing service to 923 customers for nonpayment, the UTC said Wednesday. Lumen claimed 743 disconnections didn’t violate the proclamation because the company suspended rather than canceled accounts, but UTC staff says that still violates the governor’s intention, the agency said. The UTC set a prehearing conference for May 23 to establish a schedule for reviewing the complaint. A Lumen spokesperson said the carrier's “actions throughout the pandemic demonstrate our good faith attempts to comply with the various moratoriums throughout Washington state and the country, and the vast majority of disconnections were prevented through these efforts.”

Timnath voters authorized their Colorado town to become the 119th municipality to opt out of a state law banning muni broadband, the Colorado Municipal League said Wednesday. The league cited unofficial results from Colorado municipal elections Tuesday. Colorado has 271 municipalities.

The National Regulatory Research Institute is shutting down June 30, a NARUC spokesperson said Wednesday. NRRI is NARUC’s research arm. The spokesperson didn't give a reason.

Missouri local governments could be banned from using federal funds for broadband construction in areas deemed served by the state broadband office. The state’s Senate Commerce Committee heard testimony on SB-1074 at a livestreamed hearing Wednesday. Citing existing state definitions, the bill would consider areas without at least 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload wireline or fixed wireless as unserved and areas without at least 25/3 Mbps wireline or fixed wireless as underserved. If the area is determined to be unserved or underserved, the bill would require local governments to provide 100/20 speeds. No project area where an ISP is to receive federal funding to provide 100 Mbps symmetrical speed may be classified as unserved or underserved, it said. The bill is meant to prevent overbuilding, said sponsor Sen. Dan Hegeman (R). Chairman Mike Cierpiot (R) said he wants to focus on areas with no broadband and isn’t sure about saying speeds should be 100 Mbps. Scott Avery, city administrator of Houston, Missouri, said he has concerns about SB-1074 because his city is building a municipal broadband network. It’s unfair to let private companies challenge governments that get federal funding without allowing the reverse, Avery said. The Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association supports SB-1074 because it will stop overbuilding, said Husch Blackwell lobbyist Noel Torpey. In Colorado Tuesday, the House Transportation Committee voted 11-1 to clear HB-1306, which would update rules for awarding grant money under the American Rescue Plan Act to comply with finalized federal regulations. The Hawaii House Finance Committee voted 12-0 to clear a Senate-passed bill (SB-2479) that would require public housing built, renovated or reconstructed after Jan. 1 to have broadband access (see 2202040034). Two other House committees approved it earlier, so it can now go to the floor.

Frontier Communications will spend $15 million over four years to improve its Michigan infrastructure, under a pact with the state’s Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), the AG department said Wednesday. Frontier must also pay $20,000 to consumers who filed complaints, it said. Michigan was part of a lawsuit with the FTC and other states on advertised internet speeds until a court dismissed Michigan and most other states’ claims (see 2110120052). “As the Attorney General was preparing an anticipated court filing for a Michigan court, discussions between the Department and Frontier resulted in an amicable outcome, mooting the need for further investigation or litigation,” the department said. The carrier's spokesperson emailed, "Frontier is pleased to have reached a resolution of disputed issues related to its DSL service."

Dish Network will pay $5.5 million in a settlement with California and Alameda County for allegedly illegal disposal and mismanagement of hazardous waste since 2005, Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and Alameda District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said Wednesday. Audits of Dish’s California facilities found Dish repeatedly disposed of hazardous waste in trash bins destined for municipal landfills, violating Hazardous Waste Control and Unfair Competition state laws, the AG office said. The settlement includes $3.32 million in civil penalties, $835,500 in litigation costs and $845,000 for supplemental environmental projects. Dish also must pay $500,000 to implement environmental compliance measures. “For years, DISH carelessly disposed of and sent hazardous waste to local landfills, ignoring the consequences for our communities and our environment,” said Bonta. Dish didn’t comment.

Maryland and business challengers of the state’s digital ad tax supported May oral argument on remaining issues at the U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Judge Lydia Griggsby ruled last month the Tax Injunction Act precluded the court from reviewing the tax itself, though it could review the law’s prohibition on passing the tax’s cost onto consumers (see 2203040060). The court should give parties three weeks to simultaneously file supplemental briefs, both sides agreed in a Monday joint status report. Plaintiffs including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce think reply briefs aren’t needed, but defendants would like the option to file replies three weeks later. If oral argument can’t occur in May, Maryland asks that it occur after July 11 “due to previously scheduled matters,” the joint report said: If the court doesn’t order supplemental briefs, plaintiffs think it should happen at the court’s “earliest convenience.” The parties stipulated that Maryland’s tax statute doesn’t “prohibit a person who derives gross revenues from digital advertising services in the State from indirectly passing on the cost of the tax … by factoring such cost into its customer pricing.” Cost “is passed on directly only when it is imposed on the customer by means of a ‘separate fee, surcharge, or line-item,’” said the joint report: As such, plaintiffs withdraw part of their complaint claiming the tax law “violates the Commerce Clause or dormant Commerce Clause.”