An internet equity bill cleared a first reading vote in the D.C. Council 12-0 Tuesday. Councilmember Vincent Gray was absent. Bill 24-0200 would expand the Office of Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) purpose statement to include ensuring that residents and businesses can access affordable broadband. It would require OCTO to estimate costs for making an affordable high-speed internet guarantee for low-income residents, said the Government Operations and Facilities Committee’s Nov. 17 report on bill 24-0200. The office would have to share findings and recommendations with the council in one year. Also, the bill would direct OCTO to detail plans within 90 days for public engagement for the federal infrastructure law and evaluate "the feasibility and likely benefits of one or more federally funded projects to expand internet access in underserved areas of the District.” For the one-year report, the bill would direct OCTO to focus on households making 50% or the median family income or less and to consider what it would take to ensure they don't pay more than 0.5% of their household income on internet. "Purely market-based solutions” allowing low-income households to “pay little or nothing” for broadband probably don’t exist, it said. “Some form of government subsidy will likely need to feature in OCTO’s cost estimates pursuant to this provision.” The D.C. Council votes twice on bills before sending it to the mayor. If signed, Congress gets 30 session days to disapprove D.C. bills before they take effect.

The Utah Public Service Commission is asking for comment on Lumen’s CenturyLink seeking exemption from carrier of last resort (COLR) requirements, the PSC said Tuesday (docket 22-049-62). The telco requested informal adjudication. Comments are due Jan. 4, with replies Jan. 19. “If no comment is filed in opposition … the PSC may adjudicate this docket informally and without hearing,” it said. Lumen said the COLR exemption “will result in reduced and more flexible regulation, which will allow ... CenturyLink to invest based on market principles rather than regulatory principles that were last updated in the nineties, well before competition fully developed.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered state agencies off TikTok in a letter Wednesday, the governor’s office said. Abbott ordered state public safety and information resources departments to develop a model plan by Jan. 15 for other state agencies to address vulnerabilities caused by using TikTok on personal devices. Agencies must implement those policies by Feb. 15, Abbott’s office said. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) banned Maryland government use of TikTok and other Chinese and Russian products and platforms, through an emergency directive Tuesday, his office said. In addition to TikTok, the directive covers Huawei, ZTE, Tencent Holdings including subsidiaries QQ Qallet and WeChat, and Alibaba products including AliPay and Kaspersky. “This action represents a critical step in protecting Maryland State systems from the cybersecurity threats caused by foreign organizations,” said State Chief Information and Security Officer Chip Stewart. Republican governors in South Dakota and South Carolina also instituted TikTok bans (see 2212050055).

Connecticut’s utility regulator plans to vote Dec. 21 on a proposed final decision to deal with double poles, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) said Wednesday. Under the draft in docket 21-07-29, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) would approve a single transfer pilot program meant to reduce a backlog of delayed double pole removals. Also, PURA would direct attachers to transfer attachments within 45 days of receiving notification they're next in line to be shifted. It would direct custodians to remove bare poles within 45 days after the last attachment is removed. Companies that fail to meet timelines could risk civil penalties, the draft said. “The proliferation of double utility poles in the state’s public rights of way creates a number of safety, operational, and aesthetic issues,” it said. That and the inability of pole custodians and attachers “to independently remediate the problem, has led to an increasing, instead of decreasing, number of double poles in the state.” Exceptions to the proposal are due Dec. 14, said PURA.

Indiana filed two lawsuits against TikTok Wednesday seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties. The first complaint at the Indiana Superior Court of Allen County claims the Chinese-owned social media network lured children with misleading representations it had appropriate content, the attorney general's office said. The second lawsuit at the same court claims TikTok keeps highly sensitive and personal information about Indiana consumers and says the company deceived consumers to believe it's protected from the Chinese government. “At the very least, the company owes consumers the truth about the age-appropriateness of its content and the insecurity of the data it collects on users,” said AG Todd Rokita (R). “We hope these lawsuits force TikTok to come clean and change its ways.” Other Republican governors recently banned TikTok usage by state agencies (see 2212070033). Though TikTok doesn't comment on pending litigation, "the safety, privacy and security of our community is our top priority," emailed a TikTok spokesperson. "We build youth well-being into our policies, limit features by age, empower parents with tools and resources, and continue to invest in new ways to enjoy content based on age-appropriateness or family comfort. We are also confident that we're on a path in our negotiations with the U.S. Government to fully satisfy all reasonable U.S. national security concerns, and we have already made significant strides toward implementing those solutions."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a bill requiring telemarketers to give people an option at the outset of calls to add themselves to the caller’s do-not-call list. A-8319 received unanimous votes in both legislative chambers. "We are dialing up our efforts to give New Yorkers a break from unsolicited telemarketing calls," Hochul said Tuesday.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission awarded about $20.3 million under the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program (NBBP), the PSC said Tuesday. The agency's four Republican commissioners voted to adopt an order to award 37 grants to 14 providers. Democratic Commissioner Crystal Rhoades, not present for the vote, previously raised process concerns (see 2203220078). The PSC narrowed down an initial list of 115 applications through challenge and scoring processes, it said. Awarded projects must be completed by June 6, 2024. The commission spent many hours reviewing applications and challenges and continues to make improvements to the grant process, Commissioner Tim Schram (R) said at the livestreamed meeting. The NBBP program’s second year surpassed the first, Chair Dan Watermeier (R) said in a statement. “We have a good process in place and are eager to provide funding to continue broadband buildout to unserved and underserved Nebraskans.”

Some Arizona Corporation Commission members signaled possible support for repealing state USF as soon as next month. At a livestreamed meeting Tuesday, Utilities Division Director Elijah Abinah said staff will bring forward an item to decide the fund’s future at the January or February meeting. “The most appropriate way to clean up this appendage from yesteryear would be to just repeal the rules,” said Commissioner Jim O’Connor (R). Commissioner Justin Olson (R), departing the commission at year-end, also said he supports repeal. Chairwoman Lea Marquez Peterson (R) said she wants to vote in January on repealing or modifying AUSF rules. Commission staff listed state USF options including repeal in a memo last week in docket T-00000A-20-0336 (see 2211300009). Arizona USF's sole recipient, Frontier Communications, didn't comment Tuesday.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) asked to ban TikTok on state government devices. “Federal law enforcement and national security officials have warned that TikTok poses a clear and present danger to its users, and a growing bi-partisan coalition in Congress is pushing to ban access to TikTok in the United States,” McMaster wrote Monday to the South Carolina Department of Administration. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) banned TikTok on state devices through an executive order last week (see 2211290083). "We believe the concerns driving these decisions are largely fueled by misinformation about our company," a TikTok spokesperson said. "We are happy to continue having constructive meetings with state policymakers to discuss our privacy and security practices. We are disappointed that the many state agencies, offices, and universities that have been using TikTok to build communities and connect with constituents will no longer have access to our platform."

The California Public Utilities Commission would extend a state LifeLine pilot program supporting foster youth until July 31, 2024, under a proposed decision released Friday in docket R.20-02-008. The CPUC may vote on the proposal at its Jan. 12 meeting. The draft would give CPUC Communications Division staff “more flexibility to approve foster youth pilot expenditures” and require more reporting. It wouldn’t increase the pilot’s budget. The CPUC greenlit the pilot in April 2019 (see 1904250028).