A Texas court denied cities a temporary injunction on the state’s wireless small-cells law. McAllen and others “have not demonstrated that a temporary injunction is warranted,” said Texas District Court of Travis County Judge Lora Livingston in a Thursday order (cause No. D-1-GN-17-004766). Sending the order to parties Friday, court staff attorney Brent McCabe said the court instructed him “to emphasize that this case has a 2017 cause number and that the parties should work to set this matter for final trial on the central docket without undue delay.” McAllen and the other cities are challenging the state’s 2017 small-cells law and a 2019 law on local telecom fees (see 1906260050). The parties didn't comment Friday.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation condemned a net neutrality bill by New York Senate Energy and Telecom Committee Chairman Kevin Parker (D). It pales compared with language in the state budget, said EFF Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon in a Friday interview. Parker introduced SB-8020 Tuesday (see 2003110017). Falcon blogged Thursday that the bill “ignores critical net neutrality issues such as zero rating” and “would legalize paid prioritization” by ISPs. Due to Parker’s rank, SB-8020 bill seems to be the leading alternative to passing net neutrality through the proposed budget by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), Falcon told us. EFF is working with Cuomo to strengthen budget language that’s not yet as strong as California’s law but prefers it to Parker’s bill. “Industry wants to get this out of the budget process” because it wants to avoid a bipartisan vote; legislators must vote on the budget but nothing forces them to vote on a stand-alone bill, the EFF official said. One thing EFF is working on with Cuomo’s office is to make sure rules stop anti-competitive conduct against internet companies; currently, only end users would be protected, he said. NCTA and USTelecom declined comment. Parker didn’t comment.

The Washington legislature passed a facial recognition bill Thursday after failing to reach agreement on a comprehensive privacy bill (see 2003120035). The House-Senate conference committee’s second attempt at a compromise S-6280 covered only government and law enforcement usage, leaving rules on private usage for next session. “The agreement we reached is a sensible compromise,” said Rep. Debra Entenman (D), who earlier sought a moratorium on facial recognition technology. “This bill now provides adequate guardrails for this emerging technology. It will mandate community input in how facial recognition technology is used and ensure that any use by the government is thoroughly vetted.” The bill “isn’t perfect” but “creates accountability and guidelines for how this powerful technology is used,” said House Innovation, Technology and Economic Development Committee Chairman Zack Hudgins (D). Sponsor Sen. Joe Nguyen (D) tweeted, “Senate Bill 6280 is headed to” Gov. Jay Inslee (D) “for a signature!” The Electronic Frontier Foundation opposed the bill because it wants a moratorium on facial recognition technology, said EFF Legislative Activist Hayley Tsukayama. The proposed Washington Privacy Act (SB-6281) failed after lawmakers couldn’t agree on enforcement. The House wanted a private right of action; the Senate supported attorney general enforcement only. Hudgins was “disappointed that we were not able to find common ground on the issue of consumer-focused enforcement with the Senate after both sides moved on the underlying policy so much,” the House member said. “It is unfortunate that multiple reasonable alternatives that kept a consumer voice in the enforcement process were rejected.” The bill “would have provided consumers with the strong privacy rights they deserve while also putting obligations on companies to protect and safeguard their data,” said Microsoft Chief Privacy Officer Julie Brill. Her company, which supported the Senate’s view, hopes to “build upon our learnings here, to create comprehensive legislation that will provide needed protections for all of us.” EFF and American Civil Liberties Union officials opposed the privacy bill. “For privacy rights to be meaningful, they must not be undermined,” emailed ACLU-Washington Technology and Liberty Project Manager Jennifer Lee. EFF wanted a private right of action and “there were a lot of loopholes ... that we had serious concerns about,” said Tsukayama. She doesn’t expect the fight is over.

State regulators are acting to stop utility disconnections during the novel coronavirus outbreak. The Louisiana Public Service Commission issued an emergency action Friday ordering that regulated utilities “are prohibited from disconnecting customers for non-payment of utility bills statewide.” The Ohio Public Utilities Commission directed utilities to review reconnection policies Friday, after Thursday asking them to review disconnection and other policies (see 2003120066). In New Jersey, “phone and cable providers have agreed voluntarily to suspend shutoffs, pursuant to the FCC’s recommendations” (see 2003130066) and the Board of Public Utilities “received notifications from Verizon, CenturyLink, Altice, Comcast and Charter,” a board spokesperson emailed Friday. Georgia Public Service Commission employees are teleworking, said the agency: stakeholders should do the same. NARUC is arranging COVID-19 briefings with telecom and other utilities, President Brandon Presley tweeted. "Clear dissemination of info to our members is a top priority. State Commissioners have a unique role in communicating to their constituents and gov’t agencies about vital utility services."

Responding to the coronavirus, the Ohio Public Utilities Commission directed “all public utilities under its jurisdiction to review their service disconnection policies, practices, and tariff provisions and to promptly seek any necessary approval to suspend otherwise applicable requirements that may impose a service continuity hardship on residential and non-residential customers or create unnecessary COVID-19 risks associated with social contact.” The chair and deputy chair each may make decisions on behalf of the full commission during the emergency, said Thursday's order.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly praised American Samoa for not diverting 911 fees. His Wednesday letter thanked Gov. Lolo Moliga (D) for responding Feb. 13 to the Republican commissioner’s Feb. 3 letter asking why the territory failed to respond to FCC requests for information about 911 fees (see 2002030019). Moliga sent a 2018 report and partly blamed staff turnover for the delay. “There are no 9-1-1 fees collected in American Samoa and thus no funds to divert,” the governor wrote. “Our 9-1-1 system is fully funded by our general fund and budgeted by the Department of Public Safety.”

The Washington state House and Senate will conference on a facial recognition bill (SB-6280), the chambers decided Tuesday after they couldn’t reach agreement on amendments. House members are House Innovation, Technology and Economic Development Committee Chairman Zack Hudgins (D) and Reps. Matt Boehnke (R) and Debra Entenman (D); Senate members are bill sponsor Joe Nguyen (D), Sen. Sharon Brown (R) and Lisa Wellman (D). The chambers agreed earlier that day to conference on the related SB-6281, the Washington Privacy Act (see 2003100053). “For the conference committee to be successful, it will need to find compromise positions on the two biggest differences between the House and Senate versions of the WPA -- enforcement and facial recognition,” Husch Blackwell attorneys blogged Wednesday. The session ends Thursday.

A Rhode Island net neutrality bill cleared the Senate Commerce Committee. A 2019 bill like this year’s S-2103 passed the Senate but stalled in the House (see 1905030038). The House Corporations Committee held a hearing but didn’t vote Tuesday on the House version, H-7553. Also Tuesday, New York Senate Energy and Telecom Committee Chairman Kevin Parker (D) introduced SB-8020 to limit state contracts to ISPs that follow net neutrality and establish a $250 million fund for municipal broadband. Net neutrality is part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) proposed budget. In New Hampshire, the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee scheduled a March 25 hearing on the Senate-passed SB-554 to establish a net neutrality study committee. Net neutrality bills may be nearing key votes in Maryland and Connecticut (see 2003060037).

Washington state representatives refused to back down Tuesday after senators refused to accept House amendments to the proposed Washington Privacy Act (SB-6281) Monday. The House appointed Innovation, Technology and Economic Development Committee Chairman Zack Hudgins (D) and Reps. Drew Hansen (D) and Jeremie Dufault (R) to a House-Senate conference committee. Accepting conference, the Senate appointed bill sponsor and Environment, Energy and Technology Committee Chairman Reuven Carlyle (D), Democratic Deputy Leader Manka Dhingra and Republican Whip Ann Rivers. Lawmakers must work out differences on enforcement, facial recognition and other issues before legislative session ends Thursday (see 2003090051).

West Virginia legislators gave electric utilities the green light to plan middle-mile broadband deployments. The House voted 99-0 Saturday to concur with the Senate-amended HB-4619. The Senate voted 34-0 Friday to pass the bill that would authorize the Public Service Commission to approve utility broadband plans and provide expedited cost recovery. The bill goes next to Gov. Jim Justice (R) for signature. His office didn’t comment Monday.