A South Dakota bill providing tax refunds to ISPs passed the state legislature Tuesday. SB-71 by Sen. Ernie Otten (R) adds broadband to projects eligible for tax refunds called reinvestment payments. Public Utilities Commissioner Chris Nelson, the previous NARUC Telecom Committee chairman, supported the legislation. "The passage of this bill will allow broadband providers to further leverage their private capital and Connect America Fund dollars to build broadband infrastructure to more locations in rural South Dakota,” Nelson emailed us Wednesday. “That buildout will spur economic development opportunities in those rural areas that will benefit our entire state.”

A Missouri Senate committee advanced municipal broadband restrictions in a vote Tuesday. SB-186 by Sen. Ed Emery (R) would prohibit local governments from offering competitive services, including retail and wholesale models, unless the community releases a public feasibility study and voters allow it. The bill next could get a vote by the full Senate. “SB 186 fattens the state’s existing laws that insert state government between a local community and its ability to make its own choices about its broadband future,” said the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in a blog post Tuesday.

The Arizona Corporation Commission should narrow funding for broadband to rural areas and commercially provisioned, finished services, CenturyLink said in Tuesday comments on the ACC’s proposed broadband fund for rural schools (see 1702080022). But the ISP praised the commission’s other Feb. 15 revisions to draft amendments to the state’s USF rules, including capping the proposed fund at $8 million, limiting collection to 12 months and limiting the program to the 2017 and 2018 E-rate funding cycle. In other comments, AT&T urged the commission to clarify that it’s not asserting regulatory jurisdiction over broadband, prohibit overbuilding and limit funds to E-rate special construction projects. The Arizona commission plans an all-day workshop on the matter Thursday at 1 p.m. EST, the agency said in a Wednesday news release.

The New York Public Service Commission may start hearings in its Verizon copper probe in late June, a PSC administrative law judge said Wednesday. In an email to parties, ALJ Sean Mullany proposed starting evidentiary hearings June 26, with staff and intervenor testimony due March 24 and Verizon’s rebuttal due May 24. The ALJ asked parties to raise any objections to the proposed dates by Tuesday. The PSC previously planned hearings to start in April 19 (see 1611250028).

The Missouri Public Service Commission sought comment on the future of the state USF, in a notice released Tuesday in docket TW-2017-0078. The commission asked if it should revise its $6.50-per-subscriber support amount and what should be the USF assessment level. The PSC asked if the fund, which today supports only voice landline Lifeline service, should support a broadband-only service and if it should provide a high-cost service. It asked if it should use different assumptions to project state USF revenue and expenses. Killing the state USF is on the table, too, said the agency: “Should the Missouri USF be eliminated? If yes, how and when should it be done? What should be done with any unused funds?” In an accompanying memo, staff said changes in consumer behavior and federal developments necessitate a revamp of the state USF. "The number of participants in programs supported by the Missouri USF has declined, primarily due to a shift in consumer preferences to wireless service,” staff said. “Federal Lifeline program reforms are shifting federal support to only support a broadband service.” The Missouri USF fund balance is $2.45 million and has slowly declined since October 2014, staff said. The state requires companies to contribute 0.0010 times their net jurisdictional revenue, it said. Despite repeated reductions in contribution amounts to the state USF, the Missouri fund could be financially viable through 2023 even if the assessment was eliminated, staff said. Comments are due May 1. Revenue from contributions to state USFs has declined in multiple jurisdictions, our report last year found (see 1607010010).

A telehealth bill floated this week in Texas could be a step toward resolving Teladoc's lawsuit against the Texas Medical Board, which ruled against the company’s practice in 2015, said Mario Gutierrez, executive director of the Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP), a project of the nonprofit Public Health Institute. Republican State Sens. Charles Schwertner and Charles Perry introduced the legislation Monday. SB-1107 removes a requirement that patient and physicians must first meet face to face. It provides new definitions for telehealth service, telemedicine and store-and-forward technology. While CCHP doesn’t take a position on the bill, Gutierrez emailed that the measure “seeks to better define different forms of virtual care, though there is no mention of remote patient monitoring, which can be beneficial for monitoring chronic diseases wherever the patient may be.” Cooperation among stakeholders produced the bill, Texas e-Health Alliance Executive Director Nora Belcher told us. “Last legislative session, there were over a dozen telemedicine bills filed in Texas that didn't pass, because it was clear that there was no consensus among the stakeholders about what approach to take,” she emailed. “My organization partnered with the Texas Medical Association and the Texas Academy of Family Physicians during the interim to convene a working group of all the major stakeholders to work through the issues, and this bill is the result.” SB-1107 “will guarantee a free, open and competitive market for all kinds of telemedicine in Texas,” she said. The bill lets Texans “access a new, state-of-the-art option for their medical care, while also protecting patient safety and ensuring the accepted standard of care is maintained,” Schwertner said in a news release. Teladoc praised introduction of the Texas bill. Arkansas last week signed a telehealth measure into law (see 1702210014).

The New York Public Service Commission plans a detailed review of Consolidated's buy of FairPoint, Telecom Office Director Karen Geduldig said in a Friday letter to the petitioners. Rather than allow the transaction be deemed granted, commissioners will review the Jan. 13 petition and issue a written order, she said. Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are reviewing the deal, and executives testified to the Maine Public Utilities Commission last week (see 1702210052). Also last week, the New York PSC said it would also scrutinize CenturyLink/Level 3 (see 1702210009).

The California Public Utilities Commission didn’t violate the law when it revised a rural call completion order shortly before and during commissioners' Dec. 15 meeting, said a rural county and two consumer groups. In a joint response released Wednesday, Mendocino County, The Utilities Reform Network and Center for Accessible Technology urged the commission to reject a request for rehearing by a coalition of California ISPs (see 1702080065). Rules don’t specify the exact timing of proposed changes to agenda items, they said. “Prescriptive or strict rules regarding timing of proposed revisions would chill the Commission’s ability to respond to Commissioner or staff concerns or public comment raised during the meeting itself.” They rejected the ISP argument that the scope of the order was too broad, saying the docket was broad from the start and properly expanded over the course of the proceeding. ISPs should file a petition for modification or request for clarification on any drafting errors they identify, said the county and consumer groups. “The existence of drafting errors or ambiguities that require clarification does not rise to the level of legal error undermining an entire decision.”

Don’t let FairPoint off the hook for missing Maine service quality benchmarks from Q3 2014 to Q2 2016, the state Office of Public Advocate told the Public Utilities Commission. The PUC in October proposed $500,000 in civil penalties for service quality violations, but the company protested the amount and blamed failures on reasons out of its control (see 1701030041). In testimony filed Wednesday in docket 2014-00376, OPA regulatory consultant David Brevitz said FairPoint shouldn't be excused. “FairPoint knew very well what the service quality benchmarks were that it was required to meet or expose itself to penalties,” Brevitz said. “FairPoint made various business decisions that resulted in its inability to meet the service quality benchmarks, and even get close to them for extended periods of time. The circumstances indicate that FairPoint clearly accepted potential penalties as a ‘cost of doing business’, and it would be unjust for the Commission to relieve FairPoint of paying the penalties given its complete knowledge of the service quality benchmarks, its sustained failure to meet the benchmarks -- and even improve performance, and its own decisions regarding operations in Northern New England.” FairPoint service quality issues came up earlier this week at a PUC technical conference on the company's proposed acquisition by Consolidated Communications (see 1702210052).

The California Public Utilities Commission may consider extending right-of-way (ROW) rules of commercial mobile radio services (CMRS) to wireless pole attachments by CLECs. A proposed decision by CPUC President Michael Picker released Wednesday would grant the Wireless Infrastructure Association’s petition to open a rulemaking on the subject. Commissioners could vote on the proposed decision at their March 23 business meeting, it said. "We agree with WIA’s assessment that extending the Revised ROW Rules to CLECs’ wireless pole attachments would advance the State’s policy objectives in Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 709,” the proposal said. “Our goal for the rulemaking proceeding is to advance the public’s interest in the development of safe and competitive telecommunications infrastructure that provides ubiquitous, competitive, and affordable telecommunications services.” But the proposed decision itself doesn't say whether the rules should be applied to CLEC wireless pole attachments, it said. In the proposed proceeding, the commission would consider rules to ensure construction, operation and maintenance of wireless pole attachments, protect worker and public safety, and preserve reliability of power lines and other collocated utility facilities, the CPUC said. The commission would seek comment on whether space is sufficient on existing utility poles to support additional telecom attachments, if the costs of replacing existing poles to support additional attachments pose a barrier to entry, and if the “urban streetscape” can support more pole attachments, more utility poles or larger poles to replace existing ones. Comments would be due 30 days after a final order is issued, the CPUC said. Earlier this month, the state commission denied a similar petition by the cable industry to extend CMRS ROW rights to cable wireless facilities (see 1702090043). "We are pleased the Commission has accepted our petition for rulemaking and look forward to providing comment on these important issues," WIA Senior Government Affairs Counsel Van Bloys emailed.