The California Public Utilities Commission released NTIA curing instructions for volume one of California’s initial proposal for the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. The CPUC gave parties until Thursday at 5 p.m. PST to comment on the Tuesday notice in docket R.23-02-016. The record for volume one will stand submitted at the same time and date, said Administrative Law Judge Thomas Glegola. “A proposed decision may be issued anytime thereafter.” The CPUC attached NTIA’s curing instructions from Feb. 6 and March 8, plus the CPUC Feb. 23 response and a Jan. 13 letter to the FCC about the state’s challenge to the national broadband map. In California’s cured volume one, the CPUC added information from the FCC’s Jan. 6 broadband report showing that “advertised or claimed DSL speeds rarely meet or exceed actual speeds delivered to customers,” the agency said. That and other “sources of objective data provide ample evidentiary basis to substantiate” a CPUC modification to NTIA’s model that presumes “locations for which providers have claimed to deliver speeds only slightly above the ‘unserved’ threshold, up to [30 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload], are actually receiving speeds below the ‘unserved’ threshold of 25/3 Mbps,” the commission said. “This modification is consistent with the CPUC’s and NTIA’s longstanding efforts to phase out legacy copper network infrastructure, and it does not seek to modify in any way the unserved threshold established in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”

The Tennessee Senate voted 30-0 for a broadband reporting bill Monday. SB-2907 would require state and federal broadband grant recipients to list unserved areas where they plan to deploy high-speed internet using government cash, and to say when they aim to have service in those places. The House Commerce Committee took no action on the cross-filed HB-2910 at a Tuesday meeting.

Two 911 bills passed the Kansas State Legislature. The House concurred Monday with Senate amendments to HB-2690 and HB-2483. The first bill would replace the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council with a state 911 board, among other changes. The second bill would eliminate a five-year audit by the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit. The House voted 114-5 for HB-2690 and 119-0 for HB-2483. Gov. Laura Kelly (D) will next consider the bills, which the Senate approved last week (see 2403280010).

State senators in California advanced a bill that could mean ISPs no longer must provide free internet to receive public housing broadband grants. The California Senate Communications Committee voted 15-0 to clear SB-1383 at a livestreamed hearing Tuesday. Backed by the cable industry, the bill would remove restrictions included in the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) public housing account. If the bill is enacted, the grants could support projects with plans that charge as much as $30 monthly. Also, the bill would let more types of organizations apply for and expressly authorize the California Public Utilities Commission to award funds for range extenders and other network enhancers. The fund is currently underutilized, said bill sponsor and committee Chair Steven Bradford (D). “Multiple low-income housing providers” say that the account’s free internet condition “is a major deterrent” to applying for grants, he said. Requiring free broadband “is a major deterrent,” echoed Amanda Gualderama, California Broadband and Video Association director-legislative and regulatory advocacy. The CPUC last year denied the cable industry group’s petition to reconsider what counts as free broadband service as it doles out public housing grants (see 2309010006). Last month, the commission approved changes to the public housing account with a clarification that grant recipients should provide free service without government subsidies (see 2403080010).

Gov. Brian Kemp (R) should veto a Georgia social media bill that would require age verification and prevent those younger than 16 from getting accounts without parental consent, tech industry groups said this week. The Computer & Communications Industry Association sent Kemp a veto request Tuesday. NetChoice asked for the same in a letter Monday. Age-verification and parental consent requirements in HB-351 “significantly fail to meet constitutional standards,” CCIA said. The group supported another part of the bill that would require digital citizenship curriculum in schools. NetChoice, which has sued other states over similar requirements, warned that SB-351 “would immediately invite legal challenges.”

The Missouri House unanimously supported a tax deduction for broadband grant funds for 2022 and later tax years. Lawmakers voted 146-0 to send HB-2142 to the state Senate.

The Kansas Senate passed two 911 bills Wednesday. State senators voted 39-1 in favor of HB-2690, a possible state 911 administration shakeup that would replace the Kansas 911 Coordinating Council with a state 911 board, allow counties to contract with each other to consolidate public safety answering points and require transfer of 911 fees collected from monthly phone bills and prepaid wireless sales to state 911 funds at the state treasury (see 2403060075). Senators also voted 39-1 to pass HB-2483, which would eliminate a five-year audit by the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit. The audit checks if public safety answering points are appropriately using 911 funding, whether they have enough money and the status of 911 service implementation (see 2402220062). The House previously passed both bills but must agree to Senate amendments.

The California Public Utilities Commission will audit carriers for compliance with the state’s April 2023 shift to connections-based contribution to universal service public purpose programs. In a Wednesday ruling, CPUC Administrative Law Judge Hazlyn Fortune directed the agency's utility audit branch to ensure carriers are reporting and remitting the surcharge in a reasonable manner and as directed in the CPUC's October 2022 decision (docket R.21-03-002). T-Mobile has resisted the contribution mechanism change in the courts (see 2310170042). In a separate ruling Wednesday, ALJ Robyn Purchia clarified that California LifeLine pilot programs using federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) funds will continue through at least May 31. "If the ACP receives additional federal funding, the pilot programs may continue up to June 8, 2025," said the ALJ: If the ACP doesn't receive more funding by April 30, providers must notify California LifeLine customers by May 1 "that their service may be discontinued or otherwise changed."

New York could soon become the sixth state to make prison calls free, advocate Worth Rises said in a news release Thursday. Advocates are pressing for a proposed policy and a $9.9 million appropriation to remain in the final budget that’s expected in days, Worth Rises said. “Making prison phone calls free is not only critical for true rehabilitation but strengthening the support systems that make successful reentry possible,” said Sen. Jamaal Bailey (D), who sponsored a bill (SB-1942) that would make calls free. Worth Rises Executive Director Bianca Tylek urged action. “For too long New York has been dragging its feet on this policy, driving some of the most impoverished women and families further into financial instability,” she said. “Five other states have bypassed New York at this point and already passed legislation to make prison communication free.” California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Minnesota previously made prison calls free. Maryland was weighing the policy this year (see 2403070044), but the bill is now dead, said a Worth Rises spokesperson.

Consumers should have the right to repair electronics, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) decided Wednesday. Kotek signed SB-1596, which passed the legislature earlier this month. The state joins California, New York and Minnesota in passing right-to-repair laws during the past two years, said Consumer Reports Director-Tech Policy Justin Brookman. Oregon’s law “raises the bar … by preventing software from becoming a tool to enforce manufacturers’ monopolies on the repair process,” Brookman said. The law is the first in the nation that prevents parts pairing, a manufacturer practice of using software to identify component parts through a unique identifier, CR said.