The California Public Utilities Commission may vote April 21 on a state LifeLine proposed decision to implement a 2021 law to require various LifeLine enrollment and recertification processes, and adopt other staff recommendations. The Monday proposal in docket R.20-02-008 would eliminate "use of a PIN for all renewals completed through database matching and for all participants with personal identification information on file as of the date the renewals suspension concludes," and "implement recertification without a Commission-issued PIN for participants without a database match or personal identification information on file by" Dec. 31, 2023. Also in the LifeLine docket Monday, Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Wang sought comment on a staff proposal on interaction among California LifeLine, federal Lifeline and the federal affordable connectivity program. Comments are due April 14, replies April 28. Wang asked if staff is right that the $30 ACP subsidy provides affordable wireless and broadband without needing a California LifeLine subsidy, and that minimum prices for wireline voice and broadband bundles meeting federal Lifeline minimum service standards “generally exceed” combined ACP, Lifeline and LifeLine support. Wang also wants feedback on other aspects of staff’s plan, including a proposal to use ACP subsidies to reduce state costs and use savings to expand access to voice-broadband bundles, and a suggestion to set a LifeLine specific support amount of zero dollars to wireless service plans that receive an ACP subsidy but keep the current SSA for wireline plans even if they get an ACP subsidy.

The New York Public Service Commission should strive to reduce broadband deployment barriers, said Verizon and Charter Communications in Friday comments in docket 21-02182. Verizon urged the PSC to tackle fiber right-of-way fees and multiple-tenant building restrictions. “While we recognize that the Commission cannot eliminate these barriers on its own,” a 2021 law requiring the PSC to study broadband barriers “provides it with a ‘bully pulpit’ that it can use to urge the Administration and the Legislature to adopt appropriate regulatory and legislative reforms.” Charter said to urge legislators to pass S-7494, which would prohibit the Transportation Department from imposing right-of-way fees on fiber. And the PSC should update pole attachment rules, it said. Use the influx of federal dollars to bring “broadband access to the limited, remaining unserved and underserved areas, improve digital literacy and adoption, and connect more low-income households with high-speed broadband,” Charter said. “It would be a waste of limited resources to use the funds on duplicative building in already-served areas.” Make state grant programs simple and flexible with a “reliable challenge process,” it said.

A Maryland biometric privacy bill passed the House in a 100-30 vote Saturday. The Senate referred HB-259 to the Senate Finance Committee on Monday. The bill to regulate how private companies collect and use biometric data gathered support from the state attorney general’s office and consumer privacy groups at a hearing last month (see 2202030022).

Kentucky House members unanimously supported setting up a state broadband office with $300 million from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act. The House voted 85-0 Friday for HB-315, sending it to the Senate. The proposed Office of Broadband Development would administer a state fund, plan and coordinate broadband, and create and maintain maps. The bill would define broadband as 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload

A D.C. Superior Court judge orally dismissed an antitrust complaint against Amazon by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine (D). Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo ruled at a Friday scheduling hearing, according to court records in case 2021 CA 001775 B. The court “got this wrong,” an AG office spokesperson said in a statement. “We are considering our legal options and we’ll continue fighting to develop reasoned antitrust jurisprudence in our local courts and to hold Amazon accountable for using its concentrated power to unfairly tilt the playing field in its favor.” Amazon didn’t comment. Racine sued Grubhub at the same court Monday for allegedly charging hidden fees and using deceptive marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the AG office said. Grubhub had engaged the AG office and is "disappointed they have moved forward with this lawsuit because our practices have always complied with DC law, and in any event, many of the practices at issue have been discontinued," a spokesperson said. "We will aggressively defend our business in court."

AT&T urged the Ohio Public Utilities Commission not to adopt staff’s recommendation to partly deny a petition to give up eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation for all remaining Ohio areas it didn’t earlier relinquish (see 2203080039). Staff recommended requiring AT&T to keep providing Lifeline discounts to seven customers lacking alternatives. Requiring AT&T to serve “as a ‘mini-ETC’ on a per-customer basis” doesn’t square with Section 214 of the Communications Act, which describes ETC obligations on a geographic basis, the carrier said in case 21-917-TP-UNC. AT&T isn’t aware of any state commission ever trying to “designate a carrier as an ETC for a specific customer location under Section 214(e)(3), and this proceeding is not the place to test that idea.”

A Tennessee bill to modify the 2018 small-cells state law passed the legislature. Senators voted 31-0 Thursday for HB-170 after the House voted 89-0 to pass it last week. Localities and the wireless industry support the proposal that would increase locality fees allowed for 5G deployments (see 2203080058). The bill still needs a signature from Gov. Bill Lee (R).

Ohio’s broadband office will award $232 million in residential expansion grants to 11 ISPs, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Friday. The governor announced 33 awards to directly fund projects to expand access to about 43,000 homes with at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps speeds. Several providers pledged to independently fund 71 other projects expanding broadband to 52,000 households, DeWine’s office said. Construction is expected to take one to two years, it said. South Central Power Communications got two awards worth about $98 million combined. Charter Communications’ Spectrum got 17 grants totaling about $55.6 million. Southern Ohio Communications Services got a $22.4 million grant and Windstream about $6.6 million for six projects. “We must end the digital divide in our state,” DeWine said. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R) said the awards “will help our local private- and public-sector partners expand high-speed, affordable internet in areas of Ohio that are currently unserved or underserved.” Also Friday, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) announced $3.9 million in broadband grants to add 55 miles of fiber infrastructure and expand connectivity to about 650 homes and businesses. Lingo Networks got the biggest award at $2.3 million.

Maryland senators voted 46-0 for a data privacy study bill (see 2203150006). SB-11 goes to the House. The Senate also passed SB-633, sending the House a bill to repeal a cap on county 911 fees, create special rights for 911 specialists and modify the state 911 board’s membership and responsibilities.

The California Privacy Protection Agency board plans informational sessions later this month before starting its rulemaking to implement the California Privacy Rights Act, the CPPA said Friday. The virtual meetings will be March 29 at 11 a.m. PDT and March 30 at 9 a.m. PDT, said the notice. CPPA plans overviews of the CPRA, personal information, risk assessments and consumer rights regarding automated decision-making. Also, the CPPA expects to hold April sessions to gather stakeholder input, it said. CPRA enforcement starts Jan. 1, but the CPPA rulemaking is delayed (see 2202280040). Also, the CPPA expects to hold April sessions to gather stakeholder input, it said.