State Bills on Public Safety, Social Media Signed

Several governors put their signature on public safety and social media state bills in recent days. On Monday, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) signed a bill (HB-7087) to quicken business responses to state-declared disasters by updating tax and business registration rules. CTIA supported the bill in February, testifying that “wireless providers need the flexibility to bring out-of-state employees into the state temporarily without having to subject those employees to state or local tax withholding or payments or subject them to state licensing or registration requirements during a declared disaster.” It takes effect immediately. On Friday, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) signed HB-2339, which would remove the term “enhanced” from state 911 law so that Hawaii can fund future emergency number technologies. The bill becomes effective Monday. Last week, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) supported barring social media companies from collecting data on residents younger than 18 for targeted ads. Landry signed HB-577, which earlier passed both chambers of the legislature unanimously (see 2405230039).