A Minnesota House panel supported more broadband funding Wednesday. In two 10-0 votes, the Industrial Education and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee advanced HF-14 and HF-4375 to the Ways and Means Committee after amending them into identical bills. The amended bills would require the state to transfer $100 million from the general fund to the border-to-border broadband fund account. To open grants to more entities including townships, the amended bills would raise caps on grants to $10 million from $5 million and allow grants to fund up to 75% of projects, up from 50%, said Rep. Rob Ecklund (D) at the livestreamed hearing. Tuesday in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice (R) signed SB-231, a broadband pole access bill (see [Ref:2203140014).

Louisiana commissioners quickly and unanimously supported Apollo buying Lumen ILEC assets, at a livestreamed meeting Wednesday. The Louisiana Public Service Commission adopted a March 14 staff recommendation in docket S-36166 that said the deal “will serve the public interest while at the same time having no negative impact on the ratepayers or the Commission’s jurisdiction.” The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission sought comments Tuesday on a proposed decision approving Apollo/Lumen. Exceptions are due April 18, with replies due April 28, in docket A-2021-3028668. Administrative Law Judge Marta Guhl’s proposal would approve a settlement made by the companies with consumer and small business advocates that includes fiber build and rate commitments (see 2202240043). “It is the Commission’s policy to encourage settlements,” wrote Guhl. “The Settlement represents a mutually acceptable and reasonable compromise,” and “provides substantial affirmative benefits and is in the public interest.” The deal still needs approvals from the FCC, New Jersey and Virginia. A Virginia State Corporation Commission spokesperson emailed, "A final order is expected to be issued by the commissioners in a few months." Lumen declined to comment.

Washington state residents can report robocalls to the attorney general through a special complaint form unveiled Tuesday by AG Bob Ferguson (D). The AG office also made a webpage describing robocalls and telemarketing scams, with strategies to fight them.

A Nebraska Legislature panel supported revising the state broadband program established by the 2021 Broadband Bridge Act. The Transportation and Telecommunications Committee voted 37-0 Monday to advance LB-1144 to adjust grant matching and service abandonment requirements. The committee voted 34-0 for an amendment on grant conditions and the challenge process and 37-0 for an amendment on mapping and precision agriculture. The bill next goes to the floor. A Democratic commissioner raised concerns about the broadband grant program at a Nebraska Public Service Commission hearing last week (see 2203220078). Monday in Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves (R) tweeted praise for a legislative conference report on HB-1029 to establish an executive branch broadband office.

A District of Columbia advisory neighborhood commission (ANC) opposed bringing back Karima Holmes as Office of Unified Communications (OUC) director. ANC 4B commissioners voted 7-0, with one member absent, Monday for Resolution 4B-22-0302, which asks Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) to withdraw Holmes’ nomination and urges the D.C. Council and its Judiciary and Public Safety Committee to reject her confirmation. A District audit flagged management and other problems in Holmes’ previous stint as OUC director (see 2202240057). With follow-up reports expected later this year, D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson (D) also raised questions about Holmes’ return (see 2203280027). OUC, Bowser and Public Safety Committee Chair Charles Allen (D) didn’t comment.

Disregard big ISPs’ objections to fixing monthly rates for broadband plans funded by the California Public Utilities Commission’s $2 billion last-mile federal funding account, said consumer groups in reply comments Monday in docket R.20-09-001. Phone and cable companies last week opposed ideas in a proposed decision, up for vote at the CPUC's April 7 meeting, to freeze prices for FFA-funded plans for 10 years and to require recipients to offer $40 monthly plans with 50 Mbps symmetrical speeds for the lifetime of the infrastructure (see 2203230051). “Providers’ arguments engage in a great deal of handwringing about the risk that they will not be able to afford to deploy broadband infrastructure because set prices would not allow them to respond to future market and financial conditions,” replied Center for Accessible Technology: But no such objections were raised by governments, nonprofits or cooperatives seeking grants. “It appears that incumbents’ primary concern about the low-cost option is that it might cut into their profits,” the consumer group added. Discarding the 10-year price freeze “could harm consumers as it opens the door to hiking prices … and making broadband service unaffordable,” said the CPUC’s independent Public Advocates Office. U.S. Treasury Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds rules “do not preclude states from adopting any specific pricing commitment,” and capping a required low-price plan at $40 monthly isn’t rate regulation, commented The Utility Reform Network.

Consumers face common barriers to exercising their right to opt out of selling data under the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Kim at a California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) virtual meeting Tuesday. It was the first day of informational sessions on the upcoming California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) rulemaking. “Sometimes businesses are not clear with regard to their representations that they do not sell personal information, when in fact they do,” said Kim, who works for California DOJ, the department that enforces CCPA. CCPA doesn’t require verification to opt out of sale, but “oftentimes, businesses may require some type of verification,” said the deputy AG: Businesses may ask some questions to identify consumers, but “we often see abuses in this area.” Because CCPA requires businesses only to disclose the category of third parties with whom they shared or sold personal information, consumers seeking to opt out frequently don’t know who got their information, she said. “There’s no way to go down the stream and ensure that people that the first-party business sold information to also honors the consumer’s right under the CCPA.” A consumer can try by going through California DOJ’s data broker registry, but with more than 450 brokers registered, it can be difficult to opt out for every business that might have the individual’s personal data, said Kim. CPPA Chairperson Jennifer Urban said this week’s informational sessions are meant to provide background information potentially relevant to the agency’s CPRA rulemaking. CPPA will hold partially virtual pre-rulemaking stakeholder sessions in about a month, but exact dates aren’t set because CPPA hasn’t confirmed an in-person location, she said.

A bipartisan group of 44 attorneys general urged TikTok and Snapchat to allow third-party parental control apps and strengthen internal controls and content moderation. Such apps can alert parents to potentially harmful messages including bullying, the AGs said Tuesday. North Carolina AG Josh Stein (D) and Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch (R) led the letter. TikTok and Snapchat didn’t comment

The Arizona Corporation Commission would like to hear from more than just telecom companies on possible sweeping changes to Arizona USF (AUSF), Chairwoman Lea Marquez Peterson wrote Monday in docket T-00000A-20-0336. Only Cox, Lumen, Frontier Communications and CTIA commented by the original March 18 deadline and nobody else has commented since, Peterson said. Four responses don’t provide “an adequate basis” for the commission to consider what AUSF changes could advance its connectivity and universal service goals, she said. The ACC “must also hear from the communities in Arizona that lack ‘broad connectivity’ as well as from non-traditional service providers,” said Peterson, specifying she wants comment from tribes, municipalities and electric cooperatives. They should comment by April 18, she said. The ACC didn’t get much support in March 18 comments for transitioning the fund to broadband; cable and wireless companies suggested canceling the fund (see 2203210031). The chairwoman's office "is conducting additional outreach," an ACC spokesperson said.

The tech industry’s lawsuit against a Texas social media law is scheduled for oral argument May 9 in New Orleans during the court’s morning session, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday in docket 21-51178 (in Pacer). Oral argument on industry’s challenge to a similar Florida law is set for April 28 at the 11th Circuit in Montgomery, Alabama (docket 21-12355, in Pacer).