California’s proposed budget would set aside $3.25 billion for a state-owned open-access middle-mile project and $2 billion in federal funding for last-mile projects, split equally between urban and rural counties, said a budget trailer bill expected to be up for floor votes Thursday. The Assembly Budget Committee planned to have weighed the budget package late Tuesday, and the legislature is expected to finalize the budget by Friday before a monthlong recess (see 2107090049). Like bills by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D) and Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D), the budget plan would update California Advanced Services Fund rules to define unserved area as without at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload and low latency. Democrats Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senate President Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon committed Monday to passing comprehensive measures by the end of this year’s session to extend CASF surcharge funding. The budget deal "invests in an essential backbone infrastructure" and "takes critical steps toward equity by prioritizing unserved and underserved areas in both rural and urban communities,” said Gonzalez. "Now, we must pass legislation to provide long-term, continuous funding for high-speed broadband infrastructure."
Vantage Point Solutions sought a blanket extension for Alaska providers on deadlines for replacing Chinese gear in their networks. The request came in a call with an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington. Commissioners vote on rules for the replacement program on Tuesday (see 2107070052). “Extremely short construction seasons, long shipment timeframes and multiple modes of transport hampered further by seasonal weight limitations on roadways, and extra supply chain and labor shortage challenges all disproportionately burden Alaska carriers,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-89.
Dish Network wants a California Public Utilities Commission hearing on its complaint about T-Mobile retiring its CDMA network (see 2106100010). Dish filed declarations Friday (docket A.18-07-011) from two Boost Mobile officials to support its claims that T-Mobile committed to maintain CDMA for at least three years.
Colorado is the third state with a comprehensive privacy law, after Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed SB-190 Wednesday, following California and Virginia (see 2106080066). Polis said he hopes his state’s law can become a template for a national law. “In the haste to pass this bill, several issues remain outstanding,” which will require “clean-up legislation next year,” noted Polis: Talks started among legislators and stakeholders. The governor asked negotiators to “strike the appropriate balance between consumer protection while not stifling innovation and Colorado’s position as a top state to do business.” In coming months, the Computer and Communications Industry Association hopes policymakers engage stakeholders "to address implementation issues, so that businesses have sufficient clarity for meeting their new compliance obligations," said CCIA State Policy Director Alyssa Doom.
It will be two years until trial on California’s net neutrality law, a federal judge ruled Thursday. Bench trial will be July 10, 2023, after a final pretrial conference May 26, 2023, Judge John Mendez ordered (in Pacer) Thursday at U.S. District Court for Eastern California. Dispositive motions are due Feb. 17, 2023, with a hearing on those motions April 11, 2023, he said. Discovery must be completed by Jan. 6, 2023. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument this fall on ISP groups appealing the lower court denying preliminary injunction (see 2107060046).
Labs processing New York state-collected nasal swab samples for COVID-19 testing must have a New York state clinical laboratory permit, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health emailed Wednesday, responding to our question on the inability of New Yorkers to order Amazon’s test kit (see Notebook, July 7 issue of this publication). A notification, in red lettering, next to the test kit at Amazon.com says “cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location” for customers identified as living in New York. The department spokesperson said that “the lab associated with this kit does not currently have a permit issued by the Department of Health. Other at-home collection kits are permitted and available.” Amazon is working to make its consumer COVID-19 at-home test collection kit available for purchase in New York as soon as possible, we’re told. It announced general availability Tuesday. Customers get results within 24 hours of the sample’s arrival at a lab in Hebron, Kentucky. Amazon didn’t respond to a question asking about other states.
New York and ISP associations challenging the state’s broadband affordability law “are working towards an expedited resolution of the matter at the trial court level,” New York Assistant Attorney General Patricia Hingerton told a federal court Tuesday. The AG office seeks a 30-day extension to all deadlines at U.S. District Court in Central Islip, Hingerton wrote (in Pacer). The AG last week appealed the court's granting of a preliminary injunction in June enjoining the state from enforcing the new law (see 2106300071). The AG office and some ISP group plaintiffs declined to comment now.
Oral argument on California’s net neutrality law will be Sept. 14 at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, said a July 4 notice in case 21-15430 (in Pacer). The partially virtual argument is the fifth case scheduled for the court’s 9 a.m. PDT session. The court set 15 minutes for each side. ISP plaintiffs and California disagreed last week on how much time to allow for discovery (see 2107020048).
California disagreed with ISP groups on case length for industry’s challenge of the state net neutrality law. The state defendants propose a pretrial schedule extending into 2024, while plaintiffs propose holding the final pretrial conference March 27, 2023, said a Friday joint status report at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (case 21-15430). California proposes 23 months of discovery, including 18 months for fact discovery, while ISP groups pitch 14 months, including nine months for fact discovery, said the filing (in Pacer). California seeks discovery from ISP association members but plaintiffs' counsel say they don't “have possession, custody, or control of documents or other discoverable material held by their members,” nor can they “coordinate or streamline any discovery” from their members, it said. The state “anticipates that extensive third-party discovery will be necessary,” which “will be extremely time-consuming and resource intensive, given the need to develop facts regarding numerous entities’ business practices, their use of sophisticated technologies, and the complexities inherent in the movement of Internet traffic.” Plaintiffs disagree fact discovery needs to take so long, the report said. “There are few factual issues in the case: Plaintiffs’ preemption claim can be resolved largely as a matter of law, and fact discovery is unlikely to affect the outcome.” The ISP groups disagree California “will need to seek non-party discovery from all or most” of their members, especially not the smaller ones, it said.
Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed Ohio’s state budget with $250 million for broadband expansion grants and no ban on municipal broadband. DeWine’s office said Thursday he had signed. A legislative conference committee scrapped the Senate-proposed ban Monday after local governments protested and threatened to sue (see 2106280067). Later that night, the deal cleared the Senate 32-1 and the House 82-13. “No surprises” before DeWine signed, Ice Miller local government attorney Christopher Miller emailed.