Portable electronic communication devices would join the list of items not allowed in prison or jail in Missouri under HB-2414, a bill prefiled this week by state Rep. Dean Van Schoiack (R). The prohibited devices would include cellphones, personal digital assistants and pagers, according to the bill, and a violation would be a Class D felony.
The District of Columbia would revise its existing 911 surcharge structure, moving to a fee of $1 a month for each access line across non-prepaid technologies, under a bill introduced Monday by Councilmembers Christina Henderson (I) and Matthew Frumin (D). The bill would also increase the prepaid wireless surcharge.
Wisconsin's law against calling 911 to falsely report an emergency would expand to also include texting false reports to 911 under SB-782, a bill introduced Friday by state Sen. Van Wanggaard (R). It was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. According to the bill, texting a false report to 911 would carry the same penalties as making a false call: a fine of $100-$600, imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both, for a first offense, and a Class H felony for a repeat offense committed within four years.
New Hampshire would permit one-party consent for audio and video recordings that aren't made in violation of privacy or for blackmail, under HB-1508, prefiled last week. The legislation is scheduled to be introduced in January and referred to the House Judiciary Committee. It also requires the state Justice Department to conduct a public information campaign explaining the law changes in the bill. It was sponsored by Republican House members Joseph Barton, Donald McFarlane, Katelyn Kuttab, Calvin Beaulier and James Thibault.
VoIP providers in California have been getting State Board of Equalization notices about having to file annual property tax statements starting next year, which is what the cloud communications industry had hoped the FCC would prevent, telecom lawyer Jonathan Marashlian of Marashlian & Donahue wrote Friday. The tax development springs from the California Public Utilities Commission's 2024 decision reclassifying interconnected VoIP providers as “telephone corporations," he said. "Once the CPUC decided to regulate VoIP like legacy telephony, other state agencies quickly followed suit—and found new ways to tax VoIP providers," he said.
Oklahoma would make it a felony offense, punishable by fines of up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment, for entering an easement, right of way or premises with intent to steal copper wiring or cable if the theft causes $100,000 or more in damages, under a bill prefiled Wednesday with the state Senate. SB-1232 was filed by Sen. Bill Coleman (R). The cable industry has pushed for more enforcement attention and stronger sanctions for copper thefts (see 2509030003).
Michigan's telemarketing law could see sweeping changes under SB-351, recently passed by the Senate, Klein Moynihan's David Klein wrote this week. The legislation set disclosure requirements that would require a telemarketer to provide his or her first and last name and the full name, address and telephone number of the organization/person on whose behalf the call is made, Klein said. Marketing text messages would have to include the organization/person on whose behalf the text message is initiated, he added. The bill says the attorney general's office investigating telemarketers that it believes are violating Michigan’s Telemarketing Act would be required to notify the telemarketer before commencing an action and give the telemarketer an opportunity to cease the alleged misconduct, according to Klein. The bill would allow for civil fines of $50,000 to $100,000 for conduct directed at people 75 or older or who have a disability.
Recording telephone calls or other conversations in New Jersey without consent from all parties would be illegal under a bill introduced this week by Assemblyman Avi Schnall (D). AB-6186 would allow exceptions for law enforcement, however. While New Jersey currently requires one-party consent, it would join 11 other states in moving to all-party consent, it said.
Washington state senators are proposing to create an emergency notification system for public officials that would alert them about any confirmed targeted threat to any public official. SB-5853, prefiled Monday, cites the Minnesota shootings in June that killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband and seriously injured state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife. "Had an emergency notification system been implemented in Minnesota, senator Hoffman and his wife could have been notified of representative Hortman and her husband's murder and taken whatever precautions necessary to avoid harm," according to the legislation. Sponsoring the bipartisan bill are Washington state Sen. Jeff Wilson (R) and 10 others.
A group of more than 160 state legislators from 28 states urged the Department of Commerce on Tuesday to release BEAD program non-deployment funds. “Congress was clear: non-deployment investments are not optional extras, they are central to BEAD’s mission,” they said in a letter, which was shared in a release from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. “This unprecedented opportunity was created in direct response to NTIA’s call for efficiency. To now deny states the funds their efficiency generated would penalize success and undermine BEAD’s purpose.”