A proposed update to New Mexico’s rural telecom subsidy will soon be up for a House floor vote, after unanimously clearing the chamber’s Appropriations and Finance Committee Monday. SB-204 would update New Mexico's Rural Telecom Act to let carriers that didn't exist before 1999 get access reduction support payments, which would make Sacred Winds Communications eligible, said a summary. The bill also passed unanimously through the Senate and the House Commerce Committee earlier this month. It would improve broadband in one of the state’s least-connected areas and is backed by the Navajo Nation, said Sen. Michael Padilla (D) at the livestreamed hearing. Treat all telecom carriers the same, testified Matejka Santillanes, New Mexico Exchange Carrier Group executive director. She joined the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Microsoft and other business groups supporting SB-204.

California’s privacy law author criticized Virginia’s new statute at a New Jersey legislative hearing Monday. The second major state privacy bill, signed this month by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), has “many loopholes” that effectively codify existing business practices, Californians for Consumer Privacy’s Alastair Mactaggart told the Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee. Mactaggart, who proposed the California Consumer Privacy Act and the newer California Privacy Rights Act, urged lawmakers to update CCPA-based measures to the CPRA. CTIA, which prefers a national law, warned against basing a New Jersey law on CPRA because it’s “still unsettled,” said Davis Wright attorney Nancy Libin. The Virginia law, while also problematic, is at least less burdensome for businesses, she said. New Jersey should align with Virginia to provide uniform rules for businesses, agreed Internet Association Legal and Policy Counsel Alexandra McLeod. New Jersey lawmakers are returning to privacy after COVID-19 derailed efforts last year, said committee Chair Andrew Zwicker (D). The panel heard testimony but didn’t vote on Zwicker’s A-3283, which would provide an opt-in right and establish a state data protection office; A-3255, to require businesses notify customers about collection and sale of personal information and give customers an opt-in right; and A-5448, to require websites notify about collection and disclosure and allows customers to opt out. Harvard Berkman Klein Center affiliate Salome Viljoen supported A-3283 setting up a special office but suggested adding a private right of action and warned not to exclude third parties not covered in the current bill. Electronic Frontier Foundation Legislative Activist Hayley Tsukayama, also urging a private right, cautioned that the proposed office would need adequate funding. TechNet is optimistic about soon getting a federal law, but if New Jersey goes ahead, attorney general enforcement is better than allowing private suits, said Executive Director-Northeast Chris Gilrein. Opting out is more difficult for consumers than opting in, said Consumer Reports Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney.

T-Mobile and San Francisco’s permitting dispute perplexed a federal judge Friday. "I'm still not at all convinced that I understand what the real dispute is here,” said Judge Susan Illston near the end of virtual argument at U.S. District Court in San Francisco on the wireless carrier’s lawsuit alleging the city delayed permitting in violation of Spectrum Act Section 6409(a). Deemed granted is meant to be self-enforcing, Illston said as the hearing opened. “What I'm having a hard time understanding is why that is not the case." Neither party disagreed that the dozen applications at dispute were deemed granted because the city didn’t act within 60 days, as required by the section. San Francisco recognizes it can’t stop T-Mobile from installing facilities now with a deemed-granted notice but disagrees with the carrier wanting the court to force the locality to provide a permit, said San Francisco’s attorney Wayne Snodgrass. The municipality seeks to avoid people pointing fingers at the local government in a deemed-granted situation if, for example, there's a fire at a facility because the operator didn’t follow fire codes, he said: Issuing a permit would make the city responsible. If an application was deemed granted and the city tried to stop installation, the court may enjoin the municipality, Snodgrass said. “That is quite different" from compelling the city to issue its own local permit, "which is entirely a creature of local law,” he said. Section 6409 says the city shall approve applications, countered Mintz Levin attorney Scott Thompson for T-Mobile. "The city doesn't get to avoid that" by saying a deemed-granted notice is sufficient, he argued. The city continued asking T-Mobile questions about applications after running out the 60-day shot clock, and the carrier can’t deploy promptly with uncertainty, he said. The FCC recognized in 2014's order implementing Section 6409(a) that carriers may seek declaratory judgment and other remedies in court, Thompson said.

The California Public Utilities Commission floated proposed telecom decisions on state environmental review and small LEC rate cases. Commissioners may vote on the items at their April 15 meeting, said the items released Wednesday. Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen’s proposal in docket R.06-10-006 would adopt the existing 21-day expedited review process for applying the California Environmental Quality Act to telecom carriers. A plan from Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves would adopt imputation of net positive retail broadband internet access service revenue of 10 small LECs and their ISP affiliates when calculating California High Cost Fund A (CHCF-A) support. It's “reasonable given their integrated operational connections, including the substantial sharing of personnel, equipment, and facilities in the provision of customer services,” said the proposal. The decision wouldn’t regulate broadband service or rates, nor would it require any entity to operate at a loss, it said. “Instead, we act to appropriately account for broadband-related revenues and expenses derived from the Small ILECs’ facilities infrastructure that has substantially benefited from CHCF-A Fund support by California ratepayers.”

Fairfax County, Virginia, had 911 connection issues Wednesday. “Capacity has been temporarily diminished and callers may experience extended wait times -- please stay on the line,” the Fairfax Police Department tweeted in the morning. “Text to 9-1-1 is working. Staff is working to restore the system to full capacity as soon as possible.” The department said in the afternoon the problems were addressed, but the nonemergency line was “experiencing sporadic network issues.” County officials didn’t comment on what caused the problems. The FCC declined comment.

ISP associations appealed last month's court ruling denying their preliminary injunction against California's net neutrality law to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday (in Pacer and see 2102230073), as expected. ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom told U.S. District Court in Sacramento of their plans. "As the district court has already recognized, California has the authority to protect and enforce net neutrality during ongoing litigation," said a state DOJ spokesperson. "We will continue to fight for net neutrality in court and oppose all efforts to stop enforcement of the law.”

The Washington state House wasn’t expected to have passed its privacy bill by Tuesday’s deadline for bills to clear their origin chamber. Instead, HB-1433 sponsor Rep. Shelley Kloba (D) planned to use the language in a proposed amendment to the Senate-passed SB-5062, said Kloba Legislative Assistant Brian Haifley. The House bill backed by the American Civil Liberties Union “will not be moving forward this session, but we are working to assure that any bill, including SB 5062, incorporates the most important provisions of HB 1433: opt-in consent, a private right of action, no loopholes, and no local preemption,” an ACLU-Washington spokesperson said. “These are the baseline protections needed for meaningful and effective data privacy regulation.” The Senate passed SB-5062 last week, for the third straight year (see 2103040007).

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) “intends to sign” a bill to require smartphones and tablets to include pre-installed and automatically activated adult content filters, a spokesperson said Monday. The Senate voted 19-6 for HB-72 Thursday after the House passed it 41-30 last month. It could be some time before it takes effect because the requirement is contingent on five other states enacting similar laws. TechNet and CTA opposed the bill in a Feb. 22 letter to Utah Senate Technology Committee Chair Wayne Harper (R). Many free and paid content filtering services exist, completely reliable filters are not technically feasible, and the bill would inappropriately "place device manufacturers in the role of deciding what content is obscene and whether it should be restricted," said the letter emailed to us by CTA.

The Oklahoma House passed a comprehensive data privacy bill. Members voted 85-11 Thursday for an amended HB-1602, sending the measure to the Senate. The bill is “best described as a heavily-modified version of the California Consumer Privacy Act,” blogged Husch Blackwell privacy attorney David Stauss. Lawmakers deleted a private right of action from an earlier draft, he noted. It would take effect Jan. 1, 2023, the same date as Virginia’s privacy law, which was signed Tuesday. The Washington Senate passed a privacy bill Wednesday (see 2103040007).

The Washington Senate passed a comprehensive state privacy bill for the third straight year. Wednesday’s 48-1 vote sent SB-5062 to the House, where similar bills died in the previous two sessions due to enforcement and other concerns. “Numerous other states, including Virginia, are moving forward with strong privacy legislation,” said sponsor Sen. Reuven Carlyle (D). The House has rival HB-1433 supported by the American Civil Liberties Union that differs from Carlyle’s bill by including a private right of action and opt-in consent (see 2101290053). Tuesday is the Washington State Legislature’s cutoff to pass bills in their originating chamber. Following California in 2018, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed the nation’s second major privacy bill Tuesday (see 2103030060).