The Washington state House's Finance Committee cleared a bill 10-7 Tuesday to implement national 988. HB-1477 would apply a 30 cent fee to wireless and VoIP lines starting Oct. 1, with increases to 50 cents in 2023 and to 75 cents on July 1, 2024. The national suicide prevention line is even more important during the pandemic, said sponsor Rep. Tina Orwall (D) at the virtual hearing. Some committee Republicans raised funding issues. Rep. Brandon Vick (R) said it’s good policy but he's voting no now because he hopes the bill can be improved before final passage. The panel decided not to vote Tuesday on HB-1460 to set up state Lifeline, digital equity and other new USF programs and add a 25 cent telephone and VoIP tax on switched access lines and a 25 cent internet access tax on all internet services.
The Maryland General Assembly enacted a digital sales tax opposed by advertisers. The Senate voted 29-17 Friday to override a veto by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on HB-732. The House overrode the veto Thursday (see 2102110052). At the livestreamed floor vote, Sen. Stephen Hershey (R) said the first-in-the-country state digital tax will hurt small businesses in the midst of a pandemic. Google and Facebook aren’t suffering during COVID-19, countered Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D). “That’s who this bill addresses.” Lawmakers worried about tech companies passing costs to small businesses should support bills (HB-1200/SB-787) up for hearing later this month to prevent that and to exempt news media, he said. Tech companies are too smart to absorb the tax’s costs and will figure a way around the proposed fixes, disagreed Senate Minority Leader Bryan Simonaire (R). The Maryland law "needs to be overturned in the courts," said Dan Jaffe, Association of National Advertisers group executive vice president-government relations. “ANA believes this law will be found to be unconstitutional and violates the Internet Tax Fairness Act that bans discriminatory taxes on Internet digital communications."
Vermont legislators supported “clawing back” some state broadband funding from Comcast or other ISPs that impose internet data caps on consumers. To have a company impose an “arbitrary” cap to control traffic after Vermont is spending large amounts of money for broadband during COVID-19 “makes me feel like we’re being used,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Sears (D) told a virtual hearing Friday. “Maybe they should pay us back.” Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan (D) urged Comcast Thursday to delay overage charges for the caps until 30 days after the state ends its COVID-19 pandemic emergency executive order.
Keep California LifeLine’s non-usage de-enrollment rule aligned with the FCC rule, urged the National Lifeline Association in comments received Wednesday by the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC is weighing in docket R.20-02-008 if it should continue suspending a rule to de-enroll participants after 30 days of non-usage during the pandemic, due to rising costs. "While re-imposing the 30-day non-usage rule would be harmful to consumers during the COVID-19 crisis, NaLA asserts that both the California LifeLine and the federal Lifeline programs should not continue to provide reimbursements for subscribers that have not used the service for more than 180 days and are therefore unlikely to come back and use the service,” it said. Citing rising costs, the CPUC Public Advocates Office supported ending suspension of the rule while letting de-enrolled participants easily re-enroll. California has over half a million wireless participants who receive the monthly LifeLine subsidy but show “non-usage of their LifeLine service in the last 30 days or more,” costing the program $7.3 million per month, it said. The Utility Reform Network and Center for Accessible Technology support suspending non-usage and renewal rules, saying “these LifeLine protections have been in place much longer than anticipated,” costing ratepayers millions.
Maryland House members voted 88-48 to override a veto by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on digital ad tax bill HB-732. The Senate is expected to vote Friday. It's unfair Facebook and Google don’t pay Maryland taxes, said House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D) during the livestreamed floor vote. Those companies are engaged in “fear mongering,” threatening to raise ad costs due to the proposed Maryland law, he said. “We're calling their bluff” by proposing HB-1200/SB-787 to prevent companies passing costs to small businesses, he said. Those bills exempt news media and are scheduled for hearing later this month (see 2102080040). Republican delegates urged legislators to sustain the veto. The proposed tax is an “attack on small business,” said Del. Jesse Pippy (R). The state tax isn’t allowed by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, said Del. Mike Griffith (R).
The California Public Utilities Commission adopted wireline resiliency rules for emergencies, including a requirement to provide 72-hour backup power in tier one and two high fire threat districts. Earlier Thursday, New York Department of Public Service (DPS) staff recommended the Public Service Commission revise cable and telco storm response rules, following alleged Altice and Frontier Communications violations during Hurricane Isaias.
NARUC's Telecom Committee unanimously agreed the FCC should closely review Rural Digital Opportunity Fund long-form applications to ensure RDOF providers have what's needed to deliver on promises. The committee cleared that proposed resolution Wednesday at NARUC's virtual meeting. Earlier, an analyst raised concerns about young companies winning bids. Committee Chair Karen Charles Peterson urged the new FCC to revisit broadband reclassification and net neutrality rules, revamp USF contribution and restore Lifeline voice support.
Nebraska should repeal dark fiber restrictions so public power utilities can lease infrastructure for broadband, urged state Sen. Tom Brandt (R) at the unicameral legislature’s Transportation and Telecom Committee’s livestreamed meeting Tuesday. The panel heard testimony on many broadband bills this week, as legislators grapple with how best to respond to rural gaps highlighted by COVID-19. Brandt, sponsoring LB-460, said utilities are “not in the commercial broadband business, nor wish to get into this business.” The League of Nebraska Municipalities said it would help spread broadband, but the Nebraska Internet Television Association opposed it as unfair to telecom providers. The committee also heard testimony on LB-600 to expand broadband financing options for public power districts and electric cooperatives. The panel later that day planned to consider LB-498 to require the Public Service Commission to test and map broadband, LB-656 to authorize municipal broadband, LB-338 to restore invalidated PSC rules letting local rural residents assess their own broadband needs and choose their own eligible telecom carrier, and LB-398 to increase state broadband speed standards to 100 Mbps symmetrical from 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload today. Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) testified Monday on his proposal (LB-388) to spend $40 million over two years for broadband expansion. Also that day, the committee mulled LB-456 to provide $10 million in annual broadband grants and loans, LB-604 to set up a competitive grant program for 50 Mbps symmetrical broadband, LB-455 to clarify broadband pole attachment rules and LB-520 to align state wireless siting and collocation rules with FCC regulations.
State commissioners needn't worry about satellite and fixed wireless winning large amounts of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund money, said SpaceX and Wireless ISP Association officials Tuesday. Trust in FCC staff’s close review of short-form applications, they said on a virtual panel Tuesday at NARUC’s winter conference. NARUC is scrutinizing RDOF amid concerns by some members that unfamiliar entities won large amounts of federal funding in their states (see 2101290028).
About 35 localities have joined peers’ imminent Supreme Court appeal of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding much of the FCC 2018 small-cells orders, Best Best’s Gerard Lederer said on a NATOA webinar Monday. The 9th Circuit denied en banc review in October (see 2010220061). More governments could join the cert petition due March 22, said Lederer. Municipalities want to be seen as digital inclusion partners in President Joe Biden’s administration, not deployment impediments, as they were under then-President Donald Trump, said NATOA General Counsel Nancy Werner. Local governments support Democratic priorities including net neutrality, emergency broadband benefits and E-rate during COVID-19, Lederer noted.