A Hawaii digital equity bill cleared the House Finance Committee in a 14-0 vote Monday. The Senate-passed SB-2076 would define broadband equity, clarify the state broadband office’s equity duties and provide funding for staff. Having cleared three House committees, the bill can go to the floor. Due to House amendments, it would need to go back to the Senate for concurrence.

Consumer advocates urged the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to deny an AT&T petition to give up eligible telecom carrier designation unless the carrier promises that all consumers can get Lifeline service from alternative wireless ETCs. “AT&T Ohio is the only wireline telephone company that provides basic local exchange service to consumers in its Ohio service territory,” Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel and two other consumer groups said in reply comments Friday in case 21-917-TP-UNC. “Elimination of reliable and affordable Lifeline will harm low-income consumers who face such risks as poverty and food insecurity, especially in this era of the COVID pandemic.” Consumer groups repeat old arguments, replied AT&T: PUCO must “stay the course and grant” AT&T’s petition, subject to the carrier’s commitment to give any customer left behind a monthly $5.25 credit for up to one year. AT&T last month urged PUCO not to adopt a staff recommendation to partly deny the petition (see 2203210041).

The Nebraska Public Service Commission is seeking applications by June 23 for $1.5 million available in FY 2022 for a state telehealth program, the PSC said Monday. The commission voted 5-0 last week to adopt an order establishing the deadline.

The Colorado Broadband Office posted a request for proposals Friday for consulting and development for CBO’s Capital Projects Fund grant program. The RFP closes May 2, said the office. Colorado's Broadband Deployment Board sought comments Monday by April 18 on areas designated as "critically unserved" for an upcoming RFP.

California's Senate Appropriations Committee placed a state USF bill in its “suspense file," a category reserved for bills deemed to be costly and that will be taken up later. Nobody testified on the bill at a livestreamed hearing Monday. SB-857 would extend California High-Cost Fund A and B programs, set to expire Jan. 1, until Jan. 1, 2028. CHCF-A is for small independent telcos; CHCF-B is for telcos serving areas where cost exceeds rates charged by providers. The bill would extend CPUC authority to collect surcharges, but it doesn't "necessarily mean that surcharges will be collected for both funds,” said a March 31 fiscal note on SB-857. The CPUC hasn't collected the CHCF-B surcharge since December 2013 due to a surplus that’s now about $22 million, it said. "In recent budget years, the state has borrowed funds from the” B surplus to fund other USF programs. As those funds are repaid, the surplus could grow to $106 million, it said.

The California Public Utilities Commission should keep open its emergency disaster relief rulemaking to address unresolved issues for wireline and wireless communications providers, said the Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT). The CPUC received comments Friday on whether it should close docket R.18-03-011. The CPUC “should leave this proceeding open to consider issues of fines and citations and the communication providers’ transition from fossil fuel-based to clean energy-based backup generators,” said CforAT. The commission still needs the rulemaking to monitor communications provider compliance with 72-hour backup requirements, said the CPUC’s independent Public Advocates Office: And the CPUC could open a new phase to assess telecom needs for people with disabilities during disasters. The Utility Reform Network agreed outstanding issues remain. But the California Cable and Telecommunications Association said the commission “fully addressed its objectives” and should close the rulemaking.

Require transparency for California’s $750 million broadband loan loss reserve fund (BLLRF) for infrastructure deployment financing by localities, nonprofits and tribes, said the California Emerging Technology Fund. The California Public Utilities Commission received comments Friday on the program from the state’s $6 billion broadband law. “There needs to be a lot more clarity and transparency on the scope and use of BLLRF in the broadband context,” CETF commented in docket R.20-08-021. "Given the amount of public funds being continuously appropriated by BLLRF to assist eligible applicants that may have no prior experience in broadband deployment, network operations and maintenance,” CETF suggests creating “a peer review panel comprised of finance experts … to evaluate independently the BLLRF final proposal and publish an annual report.” Use BLLRF "when and where there is no private capital investment to be leveraged in the public interest,” said CETF: Applicants should have the same rules as applicants of other California Advanced Services Fund broadband programs, including that all projects reach last-mile unserved households, CETF said. The California Cable and Telecommunications Association urged the CPUC to require local government transparency, including separate financing and accounting from other municipal finances. “Otherwise, the BLLRF may end up abetting unscrupulous financial practices such as those seen in Burlington, Vermont’s experience with municipal broadband, which resulted in substantial taxpayer losses.” Target funds to areas lacking 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, or at least prioritize areas without 100/20 Mbps, and keep a “level playing field to fund recipients and their competitors,” CCTA said. The state cable association bristled at CPUC references to "redlining," saying its members meet state and federal legal obligations to serve all households within service areas “without regard to race or income." Also, "references to the presence or absence of competition appear irrelevant to making funding decisions for an account that should be focused on connecting those without high-speed broadband service in the first place,” CCTA said. The CPUC plans to vote Thursday on rules for a $2 billion last-mile federal funding account established by the same state law (see 2203290041).

The Kentucky General Assembly passed a bill to set up a state broadband office with $300 million from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (see 2203210034). In Tuesday floor sessions, the House voted 92-0 to concur with the Senate, which voted 35-1 to pass an amended HB-315. A Senate floor amendment added a required annual audit of the broadband office’s fund administration. The bill needs a signature from Gov. Andy Beshear (D), who didn’t say whether he will sign. Wednesday in Minnesota, the House Judiciary Committee members voted 16-0 for a broadband bill to establish a grant program to extend service to unserved areas via reverse auction. HF-3605, which would also allow companies to use existing easements for broadband, can next go to the floor.

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver Thursday allowing the Virginia Department of State Police to increase power output for its mobile transmitters from 60 watts to 100 watts, using a maximum effective radiated power of 150 watts, as the agency works to increase the capacity of its existing land mobile radio network. “Grant of this waiver will allow VA State Police to upgrade its system to a more spectrally efficient technology, allowing it to continue unique public safety missions,” the bureau said. The Statewide Agencies Radio System “supports 22 state agencies, facilitates interoperability with local governments and federal agencies, and is routinely called upon to meet new communications and interoperability needs such as multi-agency response to public safety emergencies, requiring the addition of many new users,” the bureau said.

The South Carolina State Court Administration faces a lawsuit for its ban on automated data collection known as scraping. The NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Columbia, South Carolina. The ban unconstitutionally restricts NAACP’s right to access and record public court records under the First Amendment, said the plaintiffs: Scraping would help NAACP find people who could soon be evicted from their homes. “The First Amendment protects the NAACP’s right to use digital-era methods of recording public docket information that is available to any internet user,” said Esha Bhandari, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project's deputy project director. The state court administration declined to comment Wednesday.