Forty-four states had broadband deployment grant programs last fall, with 2021 appropriations ranging from $500,000 in Montana to $100 million in Iowa and Tennessee, Pew reported Monday. “Although many of these programs generally share a common focus on increasing availability and subscription rates in communities without sufficient access, they vary across states regarding the amount of funding available, specific goals, speeds standards, eligibility, and required level of community engagement.” Grant programs usually support last-mile, though Colorado and Minnesota allow localities to use grants for middle-mile, Pew said. States prioritize unserved areas, which usually means places that don’t meet the federal definition of having at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, it said: Missouri, Florida and Oregon use 10/1 Mbps. Many states, including Illinois and Minnesota, allow funding for underserved areas, but “limited funding and the emphasis states place on unserved areas mean that grant funding often runs out before underserved areas can be considered,” Pew said. Most states are technology neutral, though Washington state eligibility rules exclude DSL and Indiana cuts out satellite, Pew found: Some states consider affordability and adoption. All states cap funding per project, with maximums ranging from $1 million in Kansas and Pennsylvania to $10 million in California, it said.

California Public Utilities Commissioners should reject overlap concerns raised by some Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winners about proposed California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grants up for vote Thursday (see 2112080046), said staff in revised draft resolutions posted Monday. “Claims by Etheric and GeoLinks that awarding CASF funding in Resolution T-17749 is contrary to the law and public interest that govern the CASF program do not have merit and should not be considered,” said a revised draft about a proposed $18.8 million grant for Frontier Communications. “While some portions … overlap with RDOF-eligible areas, the commenting parties have not received ETC designation in these areas. Therefore, staff will not remove these RDOF-eligible areas from the projects.” Staff wrote similarly about the same companies’ opposition to a $17.5 million proposed grant to Frontier (T-17754) and $18 million and $5.5 million proposed grants to Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications (T-17750, T-17752). Staff similarly rejected Etheric, GeoLinks, Wavelength Internet and LTD Broadband’s opposition to an $18.3 million proposed grant for Race Telecommunications (T-17751). LTD and Wavelength declined comment Tuesday; other grant opponents didn’t comment. Staff revised another draft resolution (T-17756) for Thursday’s meeting related to staff power to rescind CASF grants (see 2111120030). The changes responded to due process concerns raised by the California Cable and Telecommunications Association. CCTA didn’t comment.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced another $722 million to bring broadband to 70 localities (see 2112090060). The latest round of funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative is expected to close 90% of the state’s digital divide, Northam’s office said Monday. The grants will support 35 projects meant to connect more than 278,000 households, businesses and anchor institutions, it said. The biggest award ($95.3 million) went to a project by Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission and All Points Broadband. West Piedmont Planning District Commission and RiverStreet Networks got $87 million and Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and Firefly got $79 million.

The Tax Injunction Act (TIA) doesn’t bar businesses’ challenge of Maryland’s digital ad tax, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a Monday brief at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland. A “principally punitive” assessment is a penalty, not a tax, said plaintiffs in case 1:21-cv-410-LKG. “Countless individual refund suits spanning many years -- all pending while the Act’s highly burdensome penalty is being exacted -- would not be an ‘efficient’ state-court alternative to a single, pre-enforcement federal-court challenge, within the meaning of the TIA.” Plaintiffs “are waiting for a decision and have no expected timeline,” emailed their attorney Stephen Kranz of McDermott Will. The court hasn’t scheduled oral argument. In state litigation against the same law, Comcast and Verizon last week opposed the Maryland comptroller’s motion to dismiss case C-02-cv-21-000509 at the Maryland Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. The comptroller argued plaintiffs must first exhaust administrative remedies by waiting to be assessed the tax and challenging it in state tax court or paying the tax and filing a refund claim with the comptroller, but plaintiffs can’t do either until 2023, the telecom companies said. “There is a long history of this State’s courts hearing and deciding constitutional challenges to newly enacted statutes where plaintiffs claim that the statute was beyond the power or authority of the legislature to adopt.”

Washington state agencies are reviewing a Seattle-area 911 outage lasting more than an hour Thursday, officials told us Friday. “A detailed root cause analysis has already been initiated by” ESInet provider Comtech “and we will be provided updates during the process," emailed Washington State Enhanced 911 Coordinator Adam Wasserman. Washington Utilities and Transportation staff will open an investigation, a spokesperson said. The 911 call delivery issue affected the western part of the state for about 90 minutes Thursday, said 911 Program Manager Ben Breier in King County, which includes Seattle. Seattle police Thursday tweeted at 3:35 p.m. PST that 911 was down; at 5:31 p.m., it said service was restored. King County had “intermittent outages for mobile and landline users,” though text-to-911 service wasn’t affected, the county tweeted at 4:11 p.m. local time. The county said at 4:54 that 911 was “being restored” and “returning to normal.” Seattle sent a wireless alert. Comtech didn’t comment Friday.

NTIA received more than 200 applications seeking more than $833 million in funding requests in its connecting minority communities pilot, the agency said Thursday. Applications are undergoing the three-stage review process. The "high volume of applicants ... displays the importance of expanding affordable, reliable broadband access to those minority communities that have lacked it for so long,” said acting Administrator Evelyn Remaley. Said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo: “This program is an important step in closing the digital divide -- both at these vital higher-education institutions as well as the communities they serve. But there is more to be done."

Areas where some Rural Digital Opportunity Fund winners challenge proposed California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) support due to possible overlap with RDOF support “have not been awarded any funds by the FCC, nor approved by the FCC to receive awards,” a California Public Utilities Commission spokesperson emailed Wednesday. Commissioners may vote Dec. 16 on several contested draft resolutions to award CASF support, plus a separate proposal to deny eligible telecom carrier (ETC) status to LTD Broadband, one company challenging proposed grants (see 2112080046). The CPUC can't comment specifically on agenda items, said the spokesperson: “The FCC requires companies to obtain a high-cost [ETC] designation that covers its winning bid areas. In California, the CPUC designates ETCs. The CPUC has been working with the companies to make determinations on each ETC application. The FCC is simultaneously evaluating the same providers, along with scores of others across the country.”

States vary in readiness for federal broadband funding from this year’s infrastructure law, consulting firm Tilson said in a Wednesday report commissioned by the Wireless Infrastructure Association. Tilson found about a dozen states and territories with no bills or laws to create broadband grant programs to implement federal funding from the infrastructure law or American Rescue Plan Act, said a summary. Five proposed bills, while 18 passed them and 25 are awarding grants, it said. “Many jurisdictions are expected to propose and enact legislation in the coming months in anticipation of and in response to forthcoming” NTIA rules. It said 46% of the jurisdictions viewed wireless broadband favorably, while 30% had a negative view and 24% were neutral. “With the historic levels broadband funding in the recently enacted bipartisan bill, many need to get moving,” said WIA President Jonathan Adelstein. He's concerned many are “taking a narrow view that will needlessly limit their own choices and services,” he said. States plan for a key role distributing nearly $42.5 billion through the broadband equity, access and deployment program (see 2111240021).

ISP groups may file briefs Feb. 23 on New York’s appeal of a lower court rejection of the state’s broadband affordability law, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday. The court granted three requests by ACA Connects, the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, and CTIA, NTCA, USTelecom and New York State Telecommunications Association in case 21-1975 (see 2112060042).

Ohio legislators amended a comprehensive privacy bill by unanimous voice vote at a House Government Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday. Rep. Rick Carfagna (R) said the new version of HB-376 is “more nuanced” about how it classifies businesses, differentiating between data controller at the front end and processors in the backend. The amended bill would preempt local privacy rules, give consumers a right to opt out of targeted advertisements and align various definitions more closely with other states’ bills, Carfagna said. Businesses wouldn’t have to respond to requests for pseudonymous data, he said. The lawmaker said he worked on the amendment with industry groups including the State Privacy and Security Coalition and BSA|The Software Alliance. The Ohio Association for Justice (OAJ), a trial lawyers group, and the American Civil Liberties Union Ohio opposed HB-376. Enforcement only by the state attorney general isn’t enough to protect Ohioans, said OAJ Trustee Curtis Fifner: The bill should allow private lawsuits, at least when the AG decides not to prosecute a claim. The measure is full of “exploitable loopholes” allowing businesses to “circumvent” privacy protections, said ACLU Ohio Chief Lobbyist Gary Daniels: it gives consumers a “right to know” but not to act, he said. Ohio bills typically get three hearings in committee before going to the floor; Wednesday’s was the third.