New York state recovered $750,000 in stolen wages from Best Wireless, a former certified Verizon retailer that had 29 stores and about 450 employees in New York City and elsewhere in the state, Attorney General Letitia James (D) said Friday. Her office reached the agreement with Best Wireless after an investigation found that the retailer “engaged in numerous labor violations over several years,” said the James office. “The company illegally deducted wages for lost, stolen, and missing merchandise, refused to pay overtime or provide breaks, and charged employees for their uniforms and background checks.” Verizon has terminated its relationship with Best Wireless, which no longer operates as an authorized Verizon retailer, the AG office noted.

Android and iPhone users can now add California driver’s licenses or state IDs to their Google or Apple digital wallets under a pilot program, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Thursday. California added support for Apple users Thursday after last month announcing it for Google users. The pilot is limited to 1.5 million participants.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed three more AI bills, bringing the total number to eight this week. The governor’s office said Thursday that Newsom signed SB-942, which requires widely used generative AI systems to add invisible watermarks to content so that it can be easily identified as AI-generated. The governor also signed SB-926, making it illegal to create sexually explicit deepfake images of a real person, and SB-981, requiring social media platforms to establish a way for users to report sexually explicit deepfakes of themselves. On Tuesday, he signed five AI bills related to elections and entertainment (see 2409180024). Newsom has yet to sign a controversial AI bill (SB-1047) that would require large AI developers and those providing computing power to train AI models to implement protections preventing critical harms (see 2409060039). The governor has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto bills that the legislature passed this year.

Maine opened its prequalification process for NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the Maine Connectivity Authority said Wednesday. It will remain open through Oct. 18, the MCA said. In this first phase of Maine’s subgrantee selection process, “MCA will evaluate a prospective applicant’s technical, financial, operational and managerial capacity,” it said. NTIA allocated nearly $272 million to Maine for BEAD. North Carolina started prequalifying ISPs earlier this week (see 2409160033).

Vermont launched a fiber optic apprenticeship program with the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), the Vermont Community Broadband Board said Tuesday. Sertex Broadband Solutions is the first Vermont employer to join, the board said. The state’s apprenticeship program is part of the U.S. Labor Department’s Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program, which WIA sponsors.

Aiming at curbing deepfakes in elections and entertainment, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed multiple AI bills this week. On elections, the governor supported requiring large websites to remove or label AI-generated deepfakes (AB-2655); expanding a prohibition on knowingly distributing election ads with deceptive AI-based content (AB-2839); and requiring disclosures in electoral ads with AI-generated or -altered content (AB-2355), said a Newsom news release Tuesday. In an earlier announcement that day, the governor’s office said Newsom signed bills requiring actors' and performers’ consent to use their digital likeness (AB-1836 and AB-2602). Newsom has yet to sign a more controversial AI bill (SB-1047) that would require large AI developers and those providing computing power to train AI models to implement protections for preventing critical harms (see 2409060039). The governor has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto bills that the legislature passed this year.

“We’re not waiting for federal leadership in privacy,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) during a Silicon Flatirons event Wednesday. Amid congressional inaction, Colorado was the third state to enact a comprehensive privacy bill, after California and Virginia. The AG office has sought to be transparent as it’s worked on rules for implementing the Colorado Privacy Act, said Weiser, quipping that the FCC is a “poster child [for] how not to do rulemaking.” Colorado plans to watch how state government manages data at the same time as it oversees the private sector, he said. The AG office will take the same approach with AI, he added. Also, as the AG office moves toward enforcement, it is focused on educating businesses. Weiser's “memo” for businesses: “Stop collecting so much data … Stop storing it for so long. Stop giving so many people access to it.” The AG said the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on Chevron deference doesn’t formally affect states. “Informally, it’s possible that some state supreme courts will look at it.” However, Weiser finds the decision “entirely unpersuasive,” he said. “I am confident that [Colorado’s] supreme court will continue to provide agency deference.” The Colorado AG office recently set a Nov. 7 hearing on the latest proposed amendments to the Colorado Privacy Act (see 2409160036).

An expected influx of broadband work is a key reason that lawmakers should reauthorize the state’s call-before-you-dig law, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Stephen DeFrank said at a Pennsylvania House Consumer Protection Committee hearing streamed Tuesday. Set to expire this year, the Pennsylvania One Call law requires excavators to call 811 before digging to avoid striking underground infrastructure, including telecom lines. Passing HB-2189 would reauthorize the law until 2031, with some changes. The committee’s goal is to bring the bill “up for a vote sooner rather than later,” possibly in a couple of weeks, said Chairman Robert Matzie (D). Reauthorization "is especially critical at this time since federal funding has been awarded to plan and construct utility infrastructure projects,” DeFrank told the committee. “From broadband deployment to replacing aging pipelines and building out our electric transmission lines, One Call tickets are likely to increase in the coming years." The PUC chair praised proposed changes, including adding late fees for untimely payments and eliminating an exemption for reporting on damage that costs less than $2,500 to repair. DeFrank suggested expanding the definition of excavation to include work using hand tools and “soft excavation technology" like vacuums, high-pressure air or water. The Pennsylvania PUC has enforced the state law for seven years. The 811 system handles 1 million calls yearly -- and the number is rising, said Pennsylvania One Call System CEO William Kiger: The calls result in about 7 million locate requests a year. The state Senate has a similar bill (SB-1237).

All Illinois counties now have 911 services, the state police said Monday. “Stark County has finally reached the 21st Century with our 911,” said the county’s Sheriff Steven Sloan. ​Previously, Stark County residents had to call a specific, 10-digit number for emergency services. Those who called 911 would be routed through other counties’ systems. That will no longer be the case because Stark County entered into an agreement with Peoria County to create a joint emergency telephone system board, Illinois police said. “With the intergovernmental agreement between Stark and Peoria counties, each county in Illinois now has a comprehensive and coordinated 911 system,” said Illinois Statewide 911 Administrator Cindy Barbera-Brelle. Meanwhile, the state continues upgrading systems to next-generation 911, “which will provide increased services and better responses in an emergency,” she said. In Illinois, 158 of 179 public safety answering points have NG-911. A few rural areas across the U.S. still lack 911, a National Emergency Number Association spokesperson said Tuesday.

Alabama awarded $42 million to last-mile broadband projects with cash from the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund, Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said Monday. The awarded projects are expected to connect about 15,000 households, businesses and anchor institutions, the governor’s office said. Big grant winners included Charter Communications ($19.4 million), Bama Fiber ($5 million) and C-Spire ($5 million). Ivey previously announced $148.3 million in CPF broadband awards in February (see 2402280035).