Colo. Passes Bills on Rural Telecom, Social Media

The Colorado General Assembly supported permanent high-cost support on Friday. The House, which had earlier passed HB-1234, voted 58-2 Friday to concur with Senate amendments and 51-9 to pass the bill a second time. The bill would indefinitely extend the state's high-cost support mechanism, which provides subsidies to a dozen rural telecom providers and is scheduled to sunset Sept. 1. The Senate passed the bill last week (see 2404160026). Also that day, the House voted 58-2 to concur with Senate amendments and 51-9 to repass a kids’ social media bill (HB-1136). It would require the state’s education department to create elementary and secondary school curricula on social media’s mental health issues (see 2404120013). Gov. Jared Polis (D) will consider the bills next. Meanwhile, the Colorado Senate voted 33-0 to approve a biometric data privacy bill (HB-1130) and 19-14 in favor of a 911 bill (SB-139). The House previously passed HB-1130 but must concur with Senate changes. The House hasn’t considered SB-139, which would create an additional state 911 fee (See 2404160036).