Today's Regulatory Mix: USDA Announces South Carolina and Nevada Broadband Grants, California Attorney General Urges Congress Not to Preempt CCPA
The USDA announced two new broadband investments. The first is a $9.1 million investment in high-speed broadband infrastructure that will create or improve e-Connectivity for 6,251 homes in rural Kershaw County, South Carolina. The second is a $2.3 million investment in a high-speed broadband infrastructure project that will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for 273 households, seven farms, seven businesses and a critical community facility in eastern Nevada.
Specifically:
In December 2019, Agriculture Secretary Perdue announced USDA will be making available an additional $550 million in ReConnect funding in 2020. USDA will make available up to $200 million for grants, up to $200 million for 50/50 grant/loan combinations, and up to $200 million for low-interest loans. The application window for this round of funding opened Jan. 31, 2020. Applications for all funding products will be accepted in the same application window, which will close on March 16, 2020.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra of California sent a letter to Congress urging them not to preempt the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and asking them to provide consumers with new rights under federal law. The letter was also intended to provide updates on California’s implementation of CCPA. Attorney General Becerra “emphasized that Congress should provide consumers with greater enforcement power and be a partner to the states in the work of protecting consumer privacy.”
In the letter, Attorney General Becerra urged Congress to provide consumers with new rights under federal law:
Attorney General Becerra also stressed that any legislative proposal should extend enforcement powers to both state attorneys general and to consumers through a private right of action.
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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.