State legislative chambers passed telecom and internet bills Wednesday. The New York Senate voted 46-15 for a bill that would allow phone and cable companies to notify third parties about bills at a customer’s request. AB-1368 earlier passed the Assembly but will need the governor’s approval. The California Senate voted 39-0 to pass SB-60, which would require social media platforms to remove posts on illegal drug sales. It will go to the Assembly. The Louisiana House voted 93-0 for HB-653 to update Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities grant rules. It next needs Senate approval.

The Montana Public Service Commission has new district boundaries based on a new state House district map rather than county lines, the commission said Wednesday. A state bill signed last month by Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) required changing the Montana PSC's five districts, which are each represented by one elected commissioner.

Minnesota will enact a right-to-repair bill covering smartphones and other digital devices. Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed a budget bill (SF-2744) containing the measure Wednesday. Consumer Reports applauded the new bill, which it said covers more kinds of electronics than New York state’s 2022 law. “It creates momentum to extend these rights to people across the country,” said CR policy analyst Laurel Lehman. “It’s the strongest, broadest right-to-repair law in the nation.” Meanwhile, Florida decided to keep state-level FirstNet information confidential. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed SB-7006 Wednesday, saving from repeal a public records exemption for FirstNet that would have expired Oct. 2 (see 2303090025).

Most states are using Capital Projects Fund dollars released so far by the Treasury Department to expand or create programs targeting last-mile service in unserved and underserved areas, Pew Charitable Trusts said Tuesday in an analysis. The availability of CPF funding has led to more states operating line extension programs that subsidize curb-to-home connections, it said. CPF money can be used for “digital connectivity technology projects,” such as to buy devices or public Wi-Fi equipment or multipurpose community facility projects, and Pew said four states said they will prioritize broadband access and adoption in affordable housing. It said since NTIA will require states to show they can fully reach every unserved area before broadband, equity, access and deployment program funds can be deployed for other uses, some states will use CPF as "an accelerator," reducing the number of unserved communities and giving those states more flexibility in how they use BEAD funding. It said for other states, CPF's relative flexibility lets them support programs that might not fit into BEAD, letting them augment funding available for devices or community anchor institutions under BEAD.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission "lacks express or implied statutory authority to ban" Q Link Wireless from filing a petition for eligible telecom carrier designation with the state, concluded the New Mexico Supreme Court in an opinion reversing the ban Monday in case S-1-SC-38812. The state commission adopted the ban after Q Link sought ETC designation in 2012 and filed a motion in 2019 to withdraw it after "lengthy and protracted proceedings before the commission's hearing examiner," the opinion said. Q Link initially sought the designation to provide Lifeline services to tribal and non-tribal households in the state. The commission didn't comment.

Prison calls will be free in Minnesota. Gov. Tim Walz (D) made his state the fourth to do so when he signed a budget bill (SF-2909) Friday. Connecticut, California and Colorado previously made calls free. The budget included $3.1 million annually to provide voice services for incarcerated people. “Eliminating these fees is the right thing to do,” said sponsor Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten (D) in a Worth Rises news release. “Phone calls keep families connected.” Worth Rises expects more states to follow, said Executive Director Bianca Tylek.

California appropriators advanced several telecom and internet bills at livestreamed meetings Thursday. The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted unanimously for AB-1065, which would explicitly authorize wireless broadband providers to get support from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure grant and federal funding accounts. But it held back AB-1461, which would have permanently required the California Public Utilities Commission to allocate $1 billion each to urban and rural counties from the CASF federal funding account. Current law requires that split only until June 30. With Republicans voting no, the committee passed AB-41, which aims to tighten digital equity requirements in the state’s video franchise law (see 2304200044). Republicans didn’t vote at all on two other approved bills: AB-296 on 911 public education and AB-414 to establish a digital equity bill of rights for Californians. The committee decided not to advance AB-276, which would have prohibited anyone under 21 from using a mobile device while driving, even hands free. It also held back AB-1276, which would have required a University of California at Davis Health study on 911 call and dispatch data. Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 7-0 for SB-60 to require social media platforms to remove posts on illegal drug sales and SB-74 to prohibit high-risk social media apps that are at least partly owned by an entity or "country of concern." The panel also unanimously supported SB-318 to require the California Department of Social Services to develop and run a grant program for 211 support services, which some counties still lack. The committee voted 5-2 for SB-362, which would transfer a data broker registry to the California Privacy Protection Agency from the state justice department and create a global deletion system. The Senate panel held back SB-754, which would have banned the California Public Utilities Commission from incorporating broadband revenue in calculations for rate regulating small telcos. SB-860, which sought to increase broadband adoption by requiring more state outreach on available subsidies, also failed to advance. All the approved bills may go to the floor.

The Connecticut House passed a bill meant to prevent services from automatically renewing without notification. The House voted 148-3 Wednesday for HB-5314, which would require consumer notices and various ways to opt out of automatic renewal. CTIA in a February letter opposed applying the bill to wireless companies.

The Louisiana Senate voted 37-0 for a social media bill to require companies to verify the age of users, and collect parental approval for minors, before allowing users to get accounts. SB-162 would also restrict minors from accessing social media between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. The bill will go to the House. Also, the state House’s Governmental Affairs Committee voted 9-0 for HB-653 to update Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) grant rules. It next needs approval by the full House.

Montana banned TikTok for everyone in the state. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte said Wednesday he signed a bill to ban the social media platform from operating in the state and ban mobile app stores from allowing TikTok downloads. Also, Gianforte directed the Montana chief information officer and agency directors to prohibit any social media app tied to a foreign adversary on state equipment. Some Republican U.S. senators supported the state ban last month after it passed the legislature, despite questions about how it would be enforced (see 2304210024). “Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect … private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Gianforte. A TikTok spokesperson said the law violates users’ First Amendment rights. “We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana. ... The Chinese Communist Party has neither direct nor indirect control of ByteDance or TikTok.” NetChoice General Counsel Carl Szabo said, “Montana ignores the U.S. Constitution, due process and free speech by denying access to a website and apps their citizens want to use.” The American Civil Liberties Union also condemned the ban. Gianforte and the legislature "trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans ... in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment,” said Keegan Medrano, ACLU-Montana policy director. “We will never trade our First Amendment rights for cheap political points.”