The California Senate passed a broadband bill that seeks to streamline permitting. But state legislators punted on a proposed TikTok ban. The Senate voted 40-0 Wednesday for AB-965, which would allow simultaneous processing of multiple broadband permit applications for similar project sites under a single permit and require local governments to decide applications within a reasonable time (see 2308170044). Local government groups had been the bill’s main foes but became neutral after some Senate amendments. The Assembly previously passed the bill but must vote again after Friday to concur with Senate changes. Also Wednesday, the Assembly ordered SB-74 to the inactive file at the request of Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D). It proposes prohibiting high-risk social media apps that, like TikTok, are at least partly owned by an entity or “country of concern.” A spokesperson for sponsor Sen. Bill Dodd (D) said the bill isn't dead. “It won’t be taken up before the end of this session but will be taken up next year.” The procedural maneuver “allows Sen. Dodd to continue working with stakeholders to refine it,” gives the senator more time to review the governor's AI executive order from this week (see 2309060037) and reduces how many bills legislators must deal with before session ends Sept. 14, the spokesperson said. Bryan didn’t comment. On Tuesday, state senators voted 35-0 to pass AB-414, which would create a digital equity bill of rights. The Assembly may take it up for concurrence as soon as Friday. Also Tuesday, the Senate voted 39-0 for AB-947, which would add immigration and citizenship status to the California Consumer Protection Act’s definition of sensitive personal information. It previously passed the Assembly and next needs a signature from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission granted an AT&T petition to relinquish its eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designations statewide. AT&T may stop enrolling new Lifeline customers there within five days of Wednesday’s order (docket 41052 ETC 39 S2), which was supported by all five Indiana commissioners. "There are at least three ETCs serving in the areas that AT&T requests to relinquish, AT&T will provide advance notice to affected customers, and the Lifeline customers served by AT&T will have the option to continue to be served by a different ETC offering the Lifeline discount, or by AT&T without the Lifeline discount,” the Indiana URC said. “If an affected Lifeline customer cannot find an alternative Lifeline provider due to poor wireless coverage in the customer’s area, AT&T will provide the customer a courtesy Lifeline credit.”

The Treasury Department approved about $158 million in Capital Projects Fund support Wednesday for Puerto Rico to build broadband infrastructure and multipurpose community facilities. The funding will support two efforts. It will fund the "resiliency and reliability of the island's high speed internet access" through a submarine cable resiliency program, said Capital Projects Fund Director Joseph Wender during a roundtable. The program will include building a new submarine fiber route to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic and U.S. Virgin Islands to create three cable landing stations, Wender said. The new support will also fund a multipurpose community technology center program for public access to the internet and technology. "We're certainly headed in the right direction," said Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi (D): "These funds will make a huge difference in Puerto Rico since they will help us ensure that our island has the necessary broadband infrastructure and that all our citizens have the internet access, tech assistance, and training they need and deserve."

It’s good for the federal government to fund chips in states that have already spent their own money, rather than trying to spread money across every area that hasn’t invested in semiconductors, said panelists on an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) webinar Wednesday. State officials discussed their roles in helping the Chips Act succeed. “Piggybacking on the work we’re doing is what is going to see us succeed,” said Kevin Younis, New York Empire State Development chief operating officer. “There has to be strategic cluster-based investments [or] we’re not going to succeed. With the peanut butter spread over the whole sandwich, you won’t taste it.” States can help the Chips Act succeed by addressing the workforce gap and cutting red tape, said David Isaacs, Semiconductor Industry Association vice president-government affairs. "There's a huge gap throughout the economy in skilled workers," with the semiconductor industry “just a small slice of the overall pie,” said Isaacs. An SIA report said about 58% of needed jobs may not be filled, including engineers, computer scientists and technicians, he said: “We need to see federal-state partnerships with industry and education to train these workers.” Also, states can play an important role speeding projects by streamlining permitting and other regulatory approval processes, he said. Arizona Commerce Authority CEO Sandra Watson said her state is “constantly having conversations about the regulatory environment and how to make that easier on industry.”

California will study AI development, use and risks over the next year, under a Wednesday executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). “This is a potentially transformative technology -- comparable to the advent of the internet -- and we’re only scratching the surface of understanding what [generative AI] is capable of,” said Newsom. “We recognize both the potential benefits and risks these tools enable. We’re neither frozen by the fears nor hypnotized by the upside.” The EO directs state bodies to do a joint risk analysis of possible threats to and vulnerabilities of the state’s critical infrastructure by generative AI. Also, agencies must issue general guidelines for procurement, uses and required training for the technology, it said. State entities must report on benefits, harms and risks, including for vulnerable communities, while agencies will train government workers to use state-approved generative AI. The EO also sets up a partnership with the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University to study generative AI impacts on California. The EO also envisions engaging the legislature and stakeholders to develop policy recommendations for responsibly using AI. The state seeks to shape “the future of ethical, transparent, and trustworthy AI,” said Newsom.

The California Public Utilities Commission expects to finish updating California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) rules within 18 months, Commissioner Darcie Houck said in a scoping memo Tuesday (docket R.20-08-021). The CPUC expects to post a proposed decision on staff’s revised proposal on the broadband loan loss reserve fund in Q3 or Q4 this year, said the memo. In the same time frame, the CPUC plans to seek comments on proposed changes to the public housing account and line extension pilot program, it said. Expect proposed decisions on those issues in Q1 or Q2 2024, it said. In a separate Tuesday ruling, CPUC Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Wang sought comments by Sept. 26 on a staff proposal for a permanent foster youth program within the California LifeLine program. Replies are due Oct. 13. The CPUC authorized a pilot program in 2019 and in subsequent rulings extended the pilot through July 31, 2024.

Kentucky granted $196 million to bring broadband to more than 42,600 homes and businesses, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Tuesday. The governor’s office said the 56 grants under the state’s Better Internet program will fund fiber in 46 counties with money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. ISPs will provide more than $190 million in matching funds, it said. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) Tuesday announced $22 million to connect about 6,000 households and more than 160 businesses to broadband. Charter Communications was the private ISP partner in half the 14 counties that won grants through the state's Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program.

State senators chose not to advance a bill that would have limited California rules for the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday held the Assembly-passed AB-662, which was opposed by local and consumer advocates (see 2308170044). Assembly Communications Committee Chair Tasha Boerner said earlier her bill’s purpose was to bring accountability to the California Public Utilities Commission. The Democrat didn’t comment Tuesday. The committee also held AB-296 on 911 public education and AB-1546, which would have extended the statute of limitations for privacy claims brought by the state attorney general. AB-1546 sponsor Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D) said, “We’re disappointed that the bill won’t be moving forward this year, but are committed to continuing our effort to protect Californians' privacy rights.” The panel voted 7-0 to advance AB-286 on adjusting state broadband map requirements to the Senate floor. It also unanimously cleared AB-1065, which would explicitly authorize wireless broadband providers to apply for CASF federal funding account grants. Also Friday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted 16-0 for SB-60, which would explicitly authorize wireless broadband providers to apply for CASF federal funding account grants. The panel also unanimously advanced to the floor SB-74 to prohibit high-risk social media apps that, like TikTok, are at least partly owned by an entity or “country of concern.”

Nebraska suffered back-to-back 911 outages, but services are now restored. Fiber cuts led to Lumen 911 outages statewide Thursday night to Friday morning (see 2309010021). Then, the Nebraska Public Service Commission said a fire at a Windstream data center in Lincoln disrupted 911 services at some southeast Nebraska public safety answering points (PSAPs) from Saturday night to Sunday morning. Four counties lost 911 service and others experienced other issues, said the PSC: The incident affected 911 centers that contract with Windstream for their local or regional networks. “Any investigation will look into what led to this disruption in 911 service and will focus on available backup systems and identifying solutions moving forward to mitigate future issues,” Nebraska 911 Director David Sankey said. Southeast PSAPs “are working with officials from the Public Service Commission and Windstream to prevent such an outage from occurring in the future,” the Southeast 911 Committee said Sunday. The Lumen and Windstream incidents were “entirely separate, just coincidental timing,” a Nebraska PSC spokesperson said Tuesday. A Windstream spokesperson said an electrical fire at its Lincoln switch location cut commercial power to the facility Friday. "An on-site generator took over supporting the three switches in the building, and we began efforts to restore commercial power. The generator operated until there was a fault, and we switched to batteries. After supporting the switches for an extended period of time, the batteries dropped to dangerously low voltage levels, and our technical team made the decision to shut down one of the three switches." That "caused a service interruption for a subset of our customers in Nebraska," the Windstream rep said. "When power was restored, we reactivated the switch, a process that took several hours and restored service to the impacted customers in phases." He said the "event was unrelated to anything occurring on any other carrier’s network." In Minnesota, the state’s public safety department said frequent and “increasingly prolonged CenturyLink phone outages” are affecting 911. The Lumen company’s “reporting is often incomplete and thus unactionable,” the department said in docket 20-432. “CenturyLink outages are increasingly on the rise,” with seven in 2017 increasing to 29 in 2022, it said. “Many of these outages lasted several days.” Lumen didn’t comment.

Google Fiber has multiple rollouts planned for the Nashville area, Government and Community Affairs Manager Ryun Jackson blogged last week. He said construction in Murfreesboro should begin early next year, with start of service later in the year. The Murfreesboro announcement follows Google Fiber beginning service in Smyrna and announcing plans to bring service to Franklin.