Nevada could soon get a final OK for volume 2 of its initial plan for the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, said Brian Mitchell, the state’s broadband office director, on a Broadband.io webinar Friday. Nevada just needs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to concur with the approval, said Mitchell, explaining that NIST is NTIA’s grant manager and fiscal partner. The office recently completed the first phase of its challenge process and is currently in the rebuttal phase, he said. Volume 2 approval could allow Nevada to move into its subgrantee selection process this summer, he said. NTIA’s recommended changes for volume 2 were mostly “small and kind of technical in nature,” said Mitchell. Nevada is “open to all reliable technologies” for high-speed internet, said the director: Even wireless and satellite technologies need to connect to fiber somewhere. Therefore, the broadband office seeks to “extend fiber as deeply as possible … so that it can facilitate whatever last-mile technology makes most sense for any given location,” he said. Nevada's network should be scalable, added Mitchell. Don’t put in “a one-lane road when you're going to need a … four-lane road in the future,” he said. “It’s unlikely that Congress is ever going to … appropriate $65 billion for broadband again.”

Nebraska will be the 17th state with a comprehensive privacy law. Gov. Jim Pillen (R) on Thursday signed a legislative package (LB-1074) containing a proposal from LB-1294 from Sen. Eliot Bostar (D). Microsoft supported the bill (see 2404150022) but Consumer Reports says the Nebraska policy, which is similar to a Texas privacy law, doesn’t cover enough businesses and lacks teeth (see 2404120047). “Nebraska lawmakers should use the next legislative session to make much needed improvements to strengthen this law,” CR Policy Analyst Matt Schwartz said Friday.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) supported a broadband bill aimed at streamlining providers’ access to public rights of way (ROW). On Thursday, Kelly signed HB-2588, which would apply to counties rules on nondiscrimination and neutrality that cities already use. Internet providers supported a similar bill at a Feb. 29 hearing (see 2402290044).

California Public Utilities Commission staff proposed ways to let low-income consumers apply for the state's LifeLine program without providing the last four digits of their social security numbers. In a Friday order in docket R.20-02-008, CPUC Administrative Law Judge Robyn Purchia sought comments on the plan by May 10, with replies due May 24. “This staff proposal recommends revisions to the application, identity verification, and eligibility determination processes to create a defined path for individuals without SSNs to apply for California LifeLine and when qualified, to begin receiving California LifeLine benefits,” said the April 11 plan, which was attached to the ALJ’s order. Consumer advocates in January comments urged the CPUC to make such a policy (see 2401290041).

Last week’s multistate 911 outage is under investigation, additional state and local officials said after the FCC and others noted Thursday they were examining Wednesday disruptions in Texas, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota (see 2404180053). The Nebraska Public Service Commission “will make a determination after more facts from [public safety answering points] and carriers are collected,” Commissioner Tim Schram (R) told us Friday. Deputy Fire Chief Billy Samuels of Clark County, Nevada, said in an email Thursday that the “cause of the outage remains under investigation.” On Wednesday night during the outage, Clark County’s Office of Emergency Management activated a multi-agency coordination center, while the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department “established unified command to ensure that police, fire and medical needs from the community were not unmet,” said Samuels. “Through this coordinated effort, an alternative solution was established, but full 911 service was restored before this was implemented,” he said. The county doesn’t know of emergencies that went unaddressed during the outage, he said.

Verizon and Comcast took more than two-thirds of the pie as Pennsylvania awarded $204 million in broadband grants Thursday. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) announced awards using funding from the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund. The authority said that the awards for 53 projects in 42 counties will connect 40,000 homes and businesses. Verizon received nearly $78.4 million (38% of available funding), while Comcast took about $61.7 million (30%). Among other private ISP winners, Windstream won nearly $12 million and Frontier Communications received $3.5 million. About $200 million in private spending will match the government cash, the PBDA added. The state required a minimum of 100 Mbps symmetrical download and upload speeds for the projects, which must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026. “These projects will leverage historic federal funding and private investment to connect communities to the internet,” said PBDA Executive Director Brandon Carson.

Virginia legislators rejected the governor’s proposed amendment to a children’s privacy bill. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 19-21 and the House voted 44-56 on the proposed changes to the cross-filed SB-361 and HB-707, respectively. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) had proposed adding language related to the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (see 2404090014). Youngkin didn’t comment Thursday. However, state legislators in both chambers unanimously agreed to adopt Youngkin’s proposed amendments to a pole-attachments bill (SB-713 and HB-800). Youngkin last week said the legislation should allow the Virginia State Corporation Commission to extend the bill’s deadline to resolve pole disputes by up to 60 days (see 2404170065 and 2404090014).

Maine’s privacy bill died after lawmakers tried a second time to pass LD-1977 through the Senate on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the House approved the bill, but the Senate narrowly defeated it (see 2404170069). Undaunted, the House insisted on acceptance, a procedural move that forces the other chamber to vote again. However, the Senate responded by insisting on rejecting the bill, leaving the bill to die in nonconcurrence. Privacy watchers said LD-1977 was notable for proposing strict data minimization standards (see 2403270045).

Maine’s comprehensive data privacy bill came up short in the state Senate on Wednesday. The bill appeared to fail when senators voted 15-18 on a Judiciary Committee majority recommendation that LD-1977 by Rep. Margaret O’Neil (D) “ought to pass.” The House narrowly passed the bill a day earlier in a 75-70 vote. The bill isn't necessarily dead. When the chambers disagree, Maine's legislative process allows each body to insist on their vote. This forces the other side to vote again. A conference committee could also be requested. Both chambers agreed to kill an alternative bill (LD-1973) by Sen. Lisa Keim (R). The House supported a majority recommendation that the bill “ought not to pass” by a 81-63 vote Wednesday. The Senate voted 18-14 for that recommendation on Tuesday. Privacy watchers said LD-1977 is notable for proposing strict data minimization standards (see 2403270045).

Georgia Public Service Commission elections may go ahead this November, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a Wednesday order. The appeals court stayed a permanent injunction by a lower court that had stopped the 2022 Georgia PSC election. Previously, on Nov. 24, the 11th Circuit reversed the Northern District of Georgia's injunction that stopped Georgia’s secretary of state from administering PSC elections using the statewide, at-large method and from certifying any commission elected using that method. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to take up an appeal of the 11th Circuit decision (see 2404150025). The district court had blocked the statewide, at-large method because it said it constituted unlawful vote dilution under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.