California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) filed a petition Monday asking Sacramento County Superior Court to order Amazon to comply with his office’s investigation into whether the tech company is sufficiently protecting its workers from COVID-19 and the number of cases at its facilities in the state. Becerra wants the court to order Amazon to comply with outstanding subpoenas, after the company didn’t adequately respond. “Amazon has made billions during this pandemic relying on the labor of essential workers” who have been “putting themselves at risk,” said Becerra. “It’s critical to know if these workers are receiving the protections on the job that they are entitled to under the law.” Amazon is “puzzled” by Becerra’s “sudden rush to court because we’ve been working cooperatively for months and their claims of noncompliance with their demands don’t line up with the facts,” the company said in a statement. “We’re a leader in providing COVID-19 safety measures for our employees” and “encourage anyone to compare our speed and actions in this area to any other major employer.”

Two thirds of states have a next-generation 911 plan, the Department of Transportation said in an annual report Monday. Based on 2019 data reported by 46 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., statewide NG-911 plan adoption increased to 33 from 31 in 2018, DOT found. The report found 2,152 public safety answering points across 46 jurisdictions using an ESInet, up from 1,813 across 44 in 2018. Text-to-911 adoption “appears to be a top priority” for many states, with 581,151 texts received in 38 states in 2019, up from 188,646 in 33 states in 2018, the report said.

A deadlocked 2-2 FCC probably means “stalemate on local preemption issues,” said Spiegel McDiarmid local government lawyer Tim Lay on a NATOA webinar Monday: “The commission can’t do nearly as much preemptive damage to local government authority as the past commission has for the past four years.” Lay noted the chair could still exert some influence through staff decisions and the agency’s positions on litigation. A split commission is probably better for local governments than the 3-2 GOP body, agreed Kitch attorney Mike Watza -- unless industry treats the stalemate as no cop on the beat. Even in a 2-2 commission, the Democratic chair can change advisory committees’ charters and memberships, said National League of Cities Legislative Director Angelina Panettieri. With Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel likely to be chair at least on an interim basis, expect more emphasis on the homework gap, digital equity and consumer protection, Panettieri predicted: “One of the things that Biden folks have made clear is they really want to focus on equity.” That might mean closer looks at affordability and competition in urban and suburban areas, “and hopefully ... reversing preemption of municipal broadband.” Lay sees possible agreement on many spectrum issues and some broadband and mapping issues, but likely disagreement on any new requirements for providers.

Oral argument is scheduled for Feb. 9 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (in Pacer) on what constitutes interconnected VoIP and whether the FCC can block state, local and tribal governments in Alabama from charging higher 911 calling fees for VoIP than traditional telecom services (see 1910250063).

An amended New Jersey small-cells bill cleared the Assembly Telecom Committee 8-0 Thursday. The New Jersey League of Municipalities is neutral on A-1116 to streamline 5G deployment by preempting local governments in the right way, said Associate General Counsel Frank Marshall at the livestreamed virtual hearing. Sponsor Assemblywoman Carol Murphy (D) said she spent many hours “fine-tuning” the bill since last year’s attempt. If New Jersey wants smart cities that attract and keep businesses, “we have to make sure we have the infrastructure,” she said. Committee Vice Chair Clinton Calabrese (D) noted he received calls from mayors concerned that new poles will go up unnecessarily. AT&T outside counsel Andy Emerson assured him that's addressed in talks with the municipal league and New Jersey Conference of Mayors. The carrier, CTIA and ExteNet testified in support. Local Progress urged localities to fight preemption laws.

The California Justice Department again revised privacy rules Thursday, saying the fourth set of edits to the California Consumer Privacy Act responds to comments on previous revisions from October. One change clarifies “that a business selling personal information collected from consumers in the course of interacting with them offline shall inform consumers of their right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information by an offline method.” Another change involves a uniform button for consumers to opt out of selling personal information. Comments are due Dec. 28.

Frontier Communications got another state OK for its bankruptcy reorganization. The Mississippi Public Service Commission voted 3-0 Tuesday to adopt an order clearing the deal. The PSC recognized the deal is in the public interest, a Frontier spokesperson emailed. “We look forward to working to secure our remaining state approvals in California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.” Also at the webcast meeting, commissioners unanimously supported the PSC entering into talks with the NTIA on the national broadband availability map (see 1910180017). “It presents an opportunity for Mississippi to have state-specific data that we are able to either upload ourselves or have carriers upload to help clear up some of the interim problems that we know exist with mapping right now,” said Commissioner Brandon Presley (D).

Two California lawmakers with competing broadband bills last session will co-author a single bill to revamp and fund the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D) Monday introduced SB-4 (see 2012030032). Gonzalez’s previous bill stalled in the Assembly, where member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D) had a different CASF bill (see 2008310034). "We each made great individual progress this year in building support for universal connectivity in, and funding for, both urban and rural communities,” said Aguiar-Curry. “Together ... we will deliver a 21st Century program that will support advances in distance learning, telehealth services, remote work, and small business.” Other supporters, all Democrats, include Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg; Sens. Mike McGuire, Scott Wiener, Anna Caballero, Henry Stern, Nancy Skinner and Maria Elena Durazo; and Assembly members Buffy Wicks, Eduardo Garcia, Lorena Gonzalez, Luz Rivas and Wendy Carrillo. SB-4 would require the California Public Utilities Commission prioritize projects in unserved areas with at most 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds, with a goal of upgrading those places to at least 100 Mbps downstream. It would remove the existing 2022 funding sunset on CASF and require a maximum surcharge of 23 cents monthly per access line. The CPUC raised the CASF surcharge to 1.019% of intrastate revenue in October. The California Cable & Telecommunications Association has no position yet. It looks forward to working with Gonzalez "on broadband policy that will benefit all Californians," emailed CCTA President Carolyn McIntyre.

Louisiana Public Service Commission Chairman Eric Skrmetta (R) defeated challenger Allen Borne (D) in a Saturday runoff election, said the Louisiana State Department’s unofficial results. Skrmetta, tweeting thanks that night, got 61.8% of the vote vs. Borne's 38.2%. Georgia PSC incumbent Commissioner Bubba McDonald (R) faces Democratic challenger Daniel Blackman in a Jan. 5 runoff (see 2011090017).

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission released its order clearing Frontier’s bankruptcy reorganization Monday. Commissioners OK’d the deal 4-0 Sept. 24 (see 2009240045). A short-staffed legal unit due to the pandemic delayed the order in docket 20-504, a PUC spokesperson said.