The Tennessee Senate Commerce Committee supported proposed confirmations of Clay Good and Michael Ellis to the Tennessee Public Utilities Commission on 9-0 votes. Good was appointed to the commission last year. Ellis was formerly Atmos Energy vice president-operations. Also, the committee voted 3-6 to kill a comprehensive Tennessee privacy bill. Proposed language in amendments to an unrelated 2021 bill (SB-1554 and HB-1467) is modeled on Virginia’s law and the Utah bill that recently passed the legislature, said House sponsor Johnny Garrett (R). It's an opt-out bill to be enforced only by the attorney general with no private right of action, said Senate sponsor Mike Bell (R): It has 27 exemptions including for financial, insurance and healthcare data protected by federal laws. NetChoice Vice President Carl Szabo opposed the bill. The "well-intentioned" bill is close to the Virginia and Utah models, but “close doesn't always cut it,” he said. The bill is “almost there,” but the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce fears potential compliance costs, said Vice President-Government Affairs Ryan King. Chairman Paul Bailey (R), who voted no because he said he's concerned with adding regulations, asked the chamber official to quantify business costs. Small and medium-sized businesses might have to hire one to four new staff, answered King. The fiscal note doesn't show costs flagged by the chamber, said Sen. Bo Watson (R). Tennessee needn’t wait for a federal law, he said: “This is a system of federalism.” Sen. Frank Niceley (R) agreed: “It’s important that we do something.” The committee was also scheduled to weigh broadband and social media regulation bills but hadn’t taken them up by our deadline.

Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority should quickly adopt one-touch, make-ready (OTMR), telecom companies said in reply comments Monday in docket 19-01-52RE01. Meanwhile in Florida, AT&T challenged the Public Service Commission’s pole dispute rules. With limited disagreement among stakeholders, Connecticut’s PURA “has the information necessary to reach a final determination,” the New England Cable and Telecommunications Association said Monday. PURA should reject pole owner requests to shift more upfront costs to new attachers, NECTA said. CTIA urged PURA to get on with codifying FCC rules for pole attachment rates and timelines, OTMR, self-help and dispute resolution. "Despite numerous rounds of comments, a hearing, and a late-filed exhibit hearing, there is nothing in the record suggesting that any other approach is better suited to resolve Connecticut pole owners’ continuing, unabated failure to meet pole attachment deadlines, which is the very issue that gave rise to this docket.” In earlier comments, state agencies urged quick OTMR adoption to prepare the state for incoming federal dollars (see 2203020013). PURA is tentatively scheduled to post a draft decision April 11 and make a final decision May 11. Friday in Florida, AT&T petitioned the state’s administrative hearings division to toss pole attachment complaint rules adopted earlier this month by the PSC, which adopted some but not most of AT&T’s suggested edits (see 2203010020). “The Proposed Rule should be declared invalid because it is an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority,” AT&T said. “The PSC was directed to develop rules sufficient to reverse preempt the FCC’s regulation of pole attachments and to consider the interests of Florida consumers when doing so.” Instead, it “proposed a rule that fails to provide adequate standards for PSC decisions and creates significant uncertainty for the regulated community.” Also in Florida, two state bills (SB-1800 and SB-1802) to set up a broadband pole replacement fund (see 2203030064) didn’t get votes before legislators adjourned last week.

An Iowa privacy bill opposed by consumer privacy groups passed the House in a 91-2 vote Monday. HF-2506 goes next to the Senate. Consumer Reports is disappointed, said Senior Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney in a statement. “We opposed the weak bill as introduced, but the bill that advanced has been weakened further and won’t protect the privacy of Iowans.” CR, Common Sense, Electronic Frontier Foundation and other consumer groups opposed HF-2506 in a letter last week to House leaders. Like the Utah bill that recently passed, Iowa’s bill is a "far more business friendly" version of Virginia and Colorado laws, Husch Blackwell lawyer David Stauss blogged. If enacted, it would take effect Jan. 1, 2024. Maryland senators converted a proposed privacy law into a study bill. The Senate Finance Committee voted 11-0 Friday to clear SB-11 with an amendment, posted Tuesday, to establish a privacy workgroup that would review business practices with consumer data, analyze other state, federal and international protections, and recommend legislation. The amended bill received a second reading on the floor Tuesday, a procedural move that tees up a final vote.

The “regulatory framework” for data protection, privacy and information security is “evolving rapidly,” said Vizio’s 10-K annual report Thursday at the SEC. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) “prompted a number of proposals for federal and state privacy legislation,” it said. Virginia enacted the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) March 2 and Colorado enacted the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) July 7, “both of which are comprehensive privacy statutes that share similarities” with the CCPA and legislation proposed in other states, it said. “The CDPA and CPA will require us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply with these new laws before they become effective” Jan. 1, 2023, and July 1, 2023, respectively, it said. “The CDPA, CPA, and any other state or federal legislation that is passed, could increase our potential liability, add layers of complexity to compliance in the U.S. market, increase our compliance costs and adversely affect our business.” At least three states’ privacy bills appeared to fail last week as legislators struggled to reach agreement before their sessions ended (see 2203100062). Vizio settled with the FTC in 2017 over allegations the smart TV vendor collected viewing data on 11 million consumers without their consent or knowledge (see 1702080029). Vizio's "obligations" under the FTC settlement agreement remain in effect through 2037, said the 10-K.

Altice asked the West Virginia Public Service Commission to adjust its Feb. 9 order fining the company, known there as Suddenlink, $2.2 million for service quality failures (see 2202090063). Altice also sought a stay pending the appeal. Suddenlink gets “it has fallen short” on customer service and can follow most of the commission’s directives, but some aren’t feasible unless modified or clarified, the company said Friday in case 21-0515-CTV-SC-G. “This relief will alter neither the spirit nor the intent of the Commission’s directives, but rather will ensure that Suddenlink can implement those directives” and in some cases exceed them, the company said. “Suddenlink’s proposed implementation of the outage credit directive would provide West Virginians more benefits because Suddenlink would provide automatic credits (eliminating need for customer to request credit) to West Virginia subscribers for any service (not just cable service) affected by an outage exceeding twenty-four hours.”

The West Virginia legislature passed two broadband bills. The House voted 93-3 Friday for SB-231 on pole access (see 2202090015). The House voted 91-5 and the Senate voted 31-0 the same day for HB-4001, which includes mapping requirements and is meant to increase state control of broadband deployment as federal dollars roll in (see 2203090016).

An Illinois broadband bill proposes constraints on using federal infrastructure dollars “that fly in the face of the clear language of federal law,” the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s Kevin Taglang blogged Friday. If it enacts SB-3683, Illinois risks losing its chance for broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), said Taglang. The state bill would eliminate anchor eligibility for anchor institutions as required by the federal law, and would improperly narrow possible competitors for grants, including by restricting municipal networks, he said. Among other problems, the proposed state law could fund projects that don’t meet IIJA-required standards and “be read to negate” the requirement to provide low-cost broadband service options, he said. NATOA urged NTIA to discourage state limits on muni broadband (see 2203110048). SB-3683 sponsor Sen. Patrick Joyce (D) didn't comment by our deadline.

T-Mobile joined a parade of mental health advocates Thursday backing Kansas' proposed fee structure to fund implementation of the 988 suicide prevention hotline. HB2281 would set the structure for and direct implementation of the state's role in the 988 hotline, including designation of hotline centers, convening of mobile crisis teams, training of staff and hiring of a statewide suicide prevention coordinator, the House Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications was told Thursday. It would impose a monthly surcharge of 20 cents per line on voice services, or a fee of 0.4% on each prepaid wireless transaction, with those fees going to the state 988 fund. The surcharge would generate about $7 million a year. Some states have passed 988 bills without surcharges, and Michigan and Illinois have bills pending that don't use surcharges and instead look at state revenue surpluses, said Patrick Fucik, T-Mobile state government affairs director. "Those funds might dry up eventually," and long-term a fee might be needed, he said. Amy Campbell, Kansas Mental Health Coalition coordinator, agreed relying on the state's general fund can mean a roller-coaster of services being provided and then cut back due to budgetary constraints. Monica Kurz, director of the Kansas Suicide Prevention Resource Center, a crisis call center, said state funding last year helped boost the capacity of the state's crisis call centers, letting more calls that originate in Kansas be answered in-state and directed to local resources. She said before that funding, about 40% of Kansans' calls to the national suicide prevention lifeline were routed out of state because of a lack of call center staffing. She said the per-phone surcharge is "critical" to keeping up current levels of service. She said a significant amount of call traffic to 911 is mental health-related and could end up being handled by 988 over time. Nick Wood, associate director of advocacy organization InterHab, urged retooling language in the bill on providing mobile crisis response services for people with behavioral health or intellectual and developmental disability needs. No bill opponents testified at the hearing.

A Missouri panel plans to bring one omnibus broadband bill to the House floor incorporating ideas from multiple separate bills, said House Special Committee on Broadband and Infrastructure Chairman Louis Riggs (R) at a livestreamed hearing Thursday. The committee heard testimony that day on five bills. HB-2016, sponsored by Rep. John Black (R) and opposed by Lumen, would let localities form a broadband infrastructure improvement district to provide residential service. HB-2353 by Riggs would let two or more localities, upon a vote by residents, form such a district. HB-2638, sponsored by Riggs and supported by AT&T and Lumen, would establish a broadband council to explore ways to expand access and usage and develop a map with data provided by any entity that gets state or federal broadband funding. HB-2645 by Rep. Josh Hurlbert (R) would require grant applicants to share address-level maps showing highest speeds they provide. Riggs said Hurlbert’s mapping bill would be folded into his council bill. HB-2817 by Rep. Jason Chipman (R) would require fast Wi-Fi in Missouri’s Capitol building in Jefferson City.

A West Virginia Senate panel considered but decided against removing mapping requirements from a bill meant to increase state control of broadband deployment as federal dollars roll in. At a livestreamed Wednesday meeting, the Economic Development Committee unanimously approved the House-passed HB-4001, sending the bill to the Finance Committee. Sen. Eric Tarr (R) proposed amendments, including to remove requirements to map poles and right-of-way disturbances, after Economic Development Department officials testified they could cost $2 million and would duplicate existing work. Tarr said he was wary of "potentially creating some overregulation that could decrease the speed of deployment” and add unnecessary cost. But Tarr withdrew his amendment after HB-4001 sponsor Del. Daniel Linville (R), showed up late to the meeting to defend his bill. Linville said a recent Facebook fiber project in West Virginia faced hurdles because the National Historic Preservation Act required proof of prior disturbance. Mapping disturbances could expedite future projects, he said. Mapping poles would reduce cost and hassle while speeding deployment because the maps would provide ready information on poles’ ability to support attachments, he said. Tarr also proposed and withdrew an amendment to remove the attorney general from the bill, which would leave the West Virginia Public Service Commission in charge. PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane said the commission was well-equipped to handle all parts of the bill that currently includes both the AG and PSC. But Linville said the AG receives many consumer complaints and in 2015 reached a $160 million settlement with Frontier Communications (see 1512100036).