The U.S. Supreme Court won’t review a Voting Rights Act case involving the Georgia Public Service Commission, the court said Monday. A text entry in case 23-1060 said the court denied the petition, which a group of Black voters filed. It sought review of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' finding that elections must remain statewide for the Georgia PSC’s five members, who represent five separate districts (see 2406040044). In a May 28 brief, Georgia called the case, involving Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a “splitless dispute” (see 2405290009). The petitioners "are very disappointed that the Supreme Court decided not to hear this case" and are "still reviewing our options for moving forward," their attorney, Bryan Sells, said.

Maryland will award a $2 million grant to provide broadband access to Smith Island, Jake Day, the state's Department of Housing and Community Development secretary, announced at a news conference Thursday. The funding comes from the Office of Statewide Broadband’s Network Infrastructure Program to Verizon and “demonstrates our commitment to work in partnership with communities in every corner of the state ... to ensure every Marylander is connected to high-speed internet by 2030,” Day said. Verizon Vice President-State Government Affairs Joseph Askew said the company "is excited to be partnering with Smith Island residents" and Gov. Wes Moore (D) "to bring ... Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network to the Island."

Charter Communications will withdraw from a New Hampshire review of Consolidated Communications’ deal with Condor Holdings, said Charter at the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission on Thursday. “Charter no longer wishes to be a participant in the proceeding,” said the cable company, which in April sought conditions related to wholesale intercarrier relationships (see 2404290007). Charter filed a similar letter the same day to withdraw from reviews of the transaction at the Vermont Public Utility Commission and at the Maine PUC. Charter didn’t comment further Friday. New Hampshire towns Benton and Greenfield also recently withdrew as intervenors. New Hampshire Electric Cooperative withdrew objections to the deal last month after settling with Consolidated (see 2405210043). Consolidated seeks states' approvals to transfer indirect ownership and control of its local subsidiaries to Condor, a subsidiary of private equity firm Searchlight (docket DT 23-103).

New York City Council Member Gale Brewer (D) introduced legislation Thursday that would prohibit the Department of Correction from "recording voice communications or electronic communications" made to or by individuals in DOC custody except when there is a warrant or express consent. The bill, End Correctional Community Surveillance (ECCos) Act, was co-sponsored by Council Members Shekar Krishnan, Carlina Rivera, Yusef Salaam, Sandy Nurse and Diana Ayala, all Democrats. The bill would also bar the DOC from collecting or buying location data of such calls and establish a "private right of action for anyone whose voice or electronic communications were unlawfully recorded, monitored, or otherwise surveilled."

Lifting Minnesota limits on municipal broadband “may prove costly to local taxpayers and harmful to consumers of broadband services,” Free State Foundation Director-Policy Studies Seth Cooper blogged Thursday. Gov. Tim Walz (D) last month signed a bill that struck an old law letting municipalities buy or construct telephone exchanges, which also included broadband networks, only if a supermajority approved it in a local referendum election (see 2405240011). “Promoting broadband access to all of a community’s residents is a commendable goal,” Cooper wrote. “But labeling local votes of the people or taxpayer protections ‘barriers’ or ‘roadblocks’ effectively dismisses other important goals such as preserving local government integrity, respecting the will of local residents, and safeguarding taxpayers and beneficiaries of traditional government services.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed two kids’ online safety bills, as expected (see 2406070065), on Thursday. Hochul voiced support earlier this month when the legislature passed the controversial measures to require obtaining parental consent when using algorithms to sort feeds for minors (S-7694) and to ban websites collecting and sharing minors’ personal data without informed consent (S-7695). “Today, we save our children,” said Hochul. “We have heard their cries for help, reminding us as adults that we have a moral responsibility to protect young New Yorkers from harm and from addictive forces.” New York Attorney General Letita James (D) added in another news release, "As we move forward with the rulemaking process, my office will work tirelessly to defend these new laws to protect New York children."

Lumen’s CenturyLink violated Minnesota service quality rules and must quickly rehabilitate its network statewide, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission agreed 5-0 at a partly virtual Thursday meeting. "We have enough evidence in the record” showing a violation, said Chair Katie Sieben. Pointing to multiple photos of CenturyLink equipment in disrepair, Sieben added, “The company should have to repair equipment that looks like it's a disaster.” In addition, it should promptly repair all equipment causing service problems, the commission agreed. Commissioner John Tuma suggested delaying the effective date of the order to give the company more time to reach a settlement, but Sieben disagreed. Commissioner Valerie Means thinks it’s “unrealistic” to expect the company to reach a good agreement since it has already had many opportunities to negotiate. In addition to network rehab, the PUC required the carrier to halve its repair appointment windows to four hours and implement a preventative “plant pride” program. The PUC hasn't yet released the order. In April, the carrier pushed back sharply against a PUC administrative law judge’s recommendation requiring that it repair or replace copper. The company said it would cost “untold millions” (see 2404030012). “We do not believe the commission's decision is consistent with the law, the facts or the state's and our customers' interest in expanding high-speed fiber internet across Minnesota," said a Lumen spokesperson: The company hopes further talks "can lead to a more productive solution for all."

North Carolina will spread $30 million dollars of federal grant money across state organizations to expand digital equity, the North Carolina Department of Information Technology said Tuesday. The money comes from the state’s Digital Champions grants, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. It “will help more families take part in our increasingly digital world,” Gov. Roy Cooper, R-N.C., said. Grant winners include community service, nonprofit, higher education and regional organizations such as libraries and schools.

The New York State Public Service Commission has released its third broadband report and interactive broadband map to chart highspeed broadband availability in the state, said a NYPSC news release Thursday. “This data continues to be a central resource for the efficient deployment of State and federal funding, enhancing New York’s ability to target both State and federal funding to the areas in greatest need,” said Commission Chair Rory Christian in the release. The report shows that 97.4% of New York address locations are served by high-speed broadband and that the number of served address locations increased by 23,370 over last year. The report also shows increased competition among broadband providers, the release said. “Since last year, more than 500,000 addresses across New York gained access to more than one high-speed internet service provider,” the release said.

Vermont legislators failed to override a veto of the state's comprehensive privacy bill. Last week Gov. Phil Scott (R) vetoed H-121, which controversially included a private right of action and a kids code section similar to a California law that was temporarily enjoined. The tech industry lauded Scott's veto, while consumer advocates and the bill’s sponsor urged a legislative override (see 2406140017). Overrides require a two-thirds majority from each chamber. On Monday, the House met that threshold with a 128-17 vote, but the effort died in the Senate, where members voted 14-15. “Industry feared this legislation and worked so hard to kill it because it had real teeth to prevent their harmful data practices,” Consumer Reports Policy Analyst Matt Schwartz said. But the fight for strong Vermont privacy protections will continue, he added. The failure also disappointed Design It For Us, said co-Chair Zamaan Qureshi: The bill “would have been a much-needed step toward protecting youth from the sustained exploitation and undue harms that we experience from social media.”