The Florida House’s privacy bill might have hit a dead end in the state Senate. With lawmakers set to adjourn Friday, Rep. Fiona McFarland (R) legislative aide Clay Gunter told us Monday he doesn’t expect any more movement on HB-9, which passed the House last week by a wide margin (see 2203020069). The bill is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but the panel hadn’t scheduled HB-9 for hearing as of Monday. Senate President Wilton Simpson (R) and Judiciary Chairman Danny Burgess (R) didn’t comment. A Florida Senate privacy bill (SB-1864) hasn't moved since it was introduced Jan. 18. The chambers couldn't agree last year on enforcement. Wisconsin and Washington state privacy bills face Thursday legislative deadlines. In New York state, Attorney General Letitia James (D) listed data privacy and other internet-related problems Friday as the top consumer complaint she got last year, with more than 8,000 such complaints filed. Citing the AG list, New York Senate Consumer Protection Chairman Kevin Thomas (D) said Monday he will advocate to pass his privacy bill (S-6701). “New Yorkers should not have to sacrifice their safety or privacy when engaging in the digital world,” he said. Thomas’ committee cleared S-6701 last month (see 2202080051).

The Arizona Corporation Commission is seeking state USF comments by March 18 on possibly sweeping changes, including expanding support to broadband, the agency said in a Friday notice of inquiry. Arizona commissioners required staff to open the rulemaking in January in docket T-00000A-20-0336 (see 2201120035). The NOI asks questions including what the original purpose of AUSF was, if it still furthers that goal and what else could it be used for. The commission asked if AUSF policy objectives are "technology agnostic and living/evolving" or "static and tied to" landlines, and if those objectives should be updated. Specifically, it asked if the commission should consider repurposing the fund "to include 'advanced telecommunications capacity' or funding to help remove 'barriers to infrastructure investment'?" The agency asked if it should consider expanding AUSF contribution to VoIP, internet or broadband providers, and if an entity should have to contribute to AUSF to receive support. It asked if the commission should expand support to non-telcos including nonprofits, state agencies and local and tribal governments, and if it should expand allowed support uses. The commission asked if it can -- or should -- eliminate state USF or the charge on customer bills. And it asked how coming federal funding should affect its decisions.

Frontier Communications faces $2.5 million in California penalties for outages and disclosing customer information, California Public Utilities Commission Administrative Law Judge Zhen Zhang ruled Thursday in docket I.19-12-009. The ALJ approved with modifications a settlement agreement proposed Nov. 4 by Frontier and the agency’s enforcement division. Commissioners in September last year rejected an earlier proposal that would have let Frontier invest $2.1 million of a proposed $2.5 million penalty, paying the state the remaining $400,000. Penalties in Thursday’s order include $1.45 million for 2016 outages and service interruptions during the cutover from Verizon and $1.05 million for releasing addresses of residential customers who had chosen to have that information suppressed from 411 and directory assistance. Frontier must give a $6 bill credit to all customers that didn’t get credits in 2016 but were possibly affected by the address disclosure, the decision said. Frontier must also give those customers the option of enrolling numbers in a non-publishing service or caller ID free for one year. The proposed settlement as modified will be "an effective deterrent to further offenses and is reasonable in light of the entire record, consistent with the law, and in the public interest,” it said. The ALJ’s decision will become final in 30 days if no party appeals and no commissioner requests review. Frontier declined to comment Friday.

The South Dakota legislature easily passed a robocalls bill to ban and penalize caller ID spoofing. The Senate voted 35-0 Wednesday for HB-1214, which passed the House 67-1 Feb. 14. It still needs the governor's signature.

Maine Joint Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee members voted Thursday to table a bill to create a grant program to cover costs of signing up for satellite-based broadband. The vote came despite significant amendments introduced by a sponsor and a call during a committee hearing by its chairman, Sen. Mark Lawrence (D), that the legislature instead might want to give guidance to the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA). SB-1107 as introduced, would establish a state grant program giving up to $500 to individual households in unserved and underserved areas of the state. After questions about lack of means testing and concerns about whether satellite service would meet the FCC's broadband definition, amendments introduced this week by Sen. Trey Stewart (R) strike language on use of satellite-based service and creates a definition for inadequately served areas. Stewart said the tech-neutral language recognizes that modes of broadband provision are changing rapidly. Rep. Seth Berry (D) said it's tough to envision a service aside from SpaceX's Starlink that would fit the grant even with the amendment. He also questioned the use of individualized grants rather than those targeting communities. ConnectMaine Authority Executive Director Peggy Schaeffer said the $500 amount "isn't that helpful" in covering last-mile costs. She urged the legislature to consider means testing for the grants. She also warned that the agency, with a small staff, has limited capacity to manage up to 2,000 grant applications. "This individual-type program would take a lot of work" to verify and track, she said. Rep. Steven Foster (R) said focusing on means testing is misguided since the state hasn't taken such an approach when subsidizing cable network extensions. "There has been a commitment made to get everyone connected ... at whatever cost," he said. Lawrence said with the state getting sizable federal money for connectivity efforts, now is the time to give state agencies legislative direction on what lawmakers' priorities are, such as a focus on the most un- or underserved and use of individualized grants. Stewart said he and MCA President Andrew Butcher will try to have proposed language ready for committee members by late next week.

The Florida Senate passed broadband pole replacement bills Thursday. Senators voted 36-0 for SB-1800 and 34-0 for SB-1802 that together would set up the fund without specifying the source of money (see 2203010049 and 2202220034). Wednesday, the Oregon House voted 55-1 to pass HB-4092, which aims to prepare the state for incoming federal broadband money including through a state map. The Senate Ways and Means Committee sent HB-4092 to the floor Thursday.

The Utah legislature passed a broadband bill that would affect how the state will consider spending federal infrastructure dollars. The House voted 74-0 Wednesday for SB-214, which the Senate passed 27-9 last week. At a House Transportation Committee hearing Tuesday, Sen. Chris Wilson (R) said his bill would ensure coming federal dollars will be spent appropriately by setting up a commission of legislators, executive branch and other public sector officials to advise the Utah Broadband Center as it develops plans required by the federal infrastructure law. The committee cleared the bill unanimously by voice. In Virginia, the Senate voted 40-0 Tuesday for the House-passed HB-445 to direct the state housing department to study local and state policies and laws to spur broadband expansion in new residential and commercial development (see 2202280048). Also, the Senate voted 33-7 to concur with House changes to SB-716 to craft a broadband affordability plan.

Connecticut should quickly adopt one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) so it can take advantage of coming federal broadband support, said two state offices in Tuesday comments at the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. "Creating a streamlined and efficient broadband infrastructure deployment process is increasingly important in light of critical timelines for use of federal funding for broadband expansion,” wrote the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Energy and Technology Policy Bureau in docket 19-01-52RE01. Because Connecticut's telecom infrastructure "is predominantly aerial, expediting" communications attachments "will be a key component in meeting program timelines." The bureau supports adopting OTMR based on the FCC’s process, "along with a dispute resolution process to ensure accelerated timelines for attachments and reduced backlogs of application processing in order to reduce barriers to entry and increase competition" among ISPs, it said. PURA must complete setting up OTMR based on the FCC process to ready Connecticut for $100 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, said the Office of Consumer Counsel. PURA should oversee a speedy dispute resolution process for pole disputes, OCC added. CTIA urged PURA to adopt FCC pole attachment rules. "The FCC’s rules contain the most widely used OTMR framework in the country, including a self-help remedy; the FCC’s rules address cost allocation and have been thoroughly examined and declared compensatory; and the FCC’s rules contain dispute resolution rules that have been used to resolve more disputes than any other pole dispute resolution rules in the nation." The New England Cable and Telecommunications Association supported an FCC-based OTMR process with “modest revisions,” including shortening time frames for owners to review applications. United Illuminating supported OTMR for simple attachments only. Don’t reduce FCC time frames now, as that “can always be revisited” after the process is in place, UI said. Communications Workers of America raised safety and contractual concerns. PURA should "carefully craft any OTMR practices to be adopted so as to prevent the threatened harm to the safety and economic well-being of the workers” and possible interference with CWA’s collective bargaining agreement with Frontier Communications, the union said.

The California Public Utilities Commission may vote April 7 on adopting rules for a $2 billion last-mile federal funding account required by the state’s $6 billion broadband law (see 2110270063), said a proposed decision (PD) Wednesday. It would limit funds to areas without 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, and allow recipients to propose projects lower than 100 Mbps symmetrical where it’s impractical. It would encourage limiting funding to wireline infrastructure and encourage funding fiber. Funds could be used for middle mile in places not reached by the coming state-owned middle-mile network, it said. Also, the PD would expand the fund’s list of eligible entities to include nonprofits and cooperatives and require grantees to participate in the federal affordable connectivity program “or otherwise provide access to a broad-based affordability program to low-income consumers.” The proposed rule “focuses on ‘need’ in determining whether an area is not served, instead of solely determining speed served status by relying of speed thresholds,” the CPUC said. The commission won’t say only fiber provides reliable internet, but it would adopt “a rebuttable presumption that legacy networks cannot provide reliable Internet service at speeds of 25Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload,” meaning areas with only DSL or cable technology based on DOCSIS 2.0 or earlier would be eligible for funding, it said. ISPs seeking to rebut would have to show all locations have at least 25/3 Mbps, said the PD: “Speed tests from terminals, cabinets and at other locations that are not end users are not sufficient.”

State legislators advanced more broadband bills. The Washington Senate Ways and Means Committee voted 13-4 Monday for HB-1723 to set up broadband adoption programs. The House passed it earlier this month (see 2202140004). Also that day, Virginia senators voted 40-0 and amended the House-passed HB-1265 to craft a broadband affordability plan, and the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee voted 18-0 for connected bills (SB-1800 and SB-1802) to set up a broadband pole-replacement fund (see 2202220034).