Most states are making progress in planning for FirstNet, though there are “significant” differences in the maturity and preparation of states, said a report by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (http://bit.ly/1mMuPQQ). NASCIO said “states are taking a range of approaches in everything from outreach to governance. Some states are focused intensely on becoming organized and raising awareness internally, while others are focusing on interstate and regional solutions.” It surveyed 44 states and territories between April and May. More than 70 percent had developed a governance model, and means to support FirstNet planning and outreach activities, and organized activities with other key stakeholders in the state and potentially with other states. Sixteen percent had collected the necessary data on operations, assets and user baselines necessary for their state plans, said the report released Wednesday. The figure is “surprising,” because this is an element of the second round of the State and Local Government Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP), which has not yet been awarded nor outlined, the report said. It’s also surprising that almost a quarter of respondents said their states are not actively conducting FirstNet outreach and education activities, said NASCIO. “Some of those who are not actively engaged in outreach stated that they were waiting on funds, planning, or material from FirstNet before conducting extensive education activities, while others stated that the outreach had ceased for the time being as they waited on additional collaboration with FirstNet,” the report said. “FirstNet is a major intergovernmental undertaking, with the need for states to do budgeting forecasts, infrastructure and technology planning, and education and outreach to potential users. How states approach this problem will have a significant bearing on whether we end up with a successful, sustainable model for this major national endeavor,” said NASCIO Broadband Committee co-chairman and Wisconsin Chief Information Officer David Cagigal, in a news release (http://bit.ly/1lcZjua).

West Virgina’s Broadband Deployment Council, charged with expanding high-speed Internet availability in the state, will disband at the end of the year, after failing to get additional funds from the Legislature to do other projects, the council’s chairman Dan O'Hanlon told us in an email. The council was given $5 million when it was established in 2009 by then-Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat. The council used the initial funds, mostly for wireless Internet projects in rural areas, as well as to hire a consultant to review grant applications and create a deployment map, O'Hanlon said.

The New York State Public Service Commission is seeking comment on the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal and will hold hearings in Buffalo, Albany and New York before an administrative law judge, a news release said. The hearings will be June 16 at the State University of New York at Buffalo, June 18 at SUNY-Albany and June 19 at the state Department of Public Service, said the June 5 release (http://bit.ly/1kYmfmF). The PSC will gauge whether the proposed deal is in the best interests of the state and customers, the release said. TWC has about 2.6 million subscribers statewide, while Comcast has 23,000 subscribers in Dutchess, Westchester and Putnam counties, according to the release.

A self-described coalition of public and private entities announced the creation Monday of the Coalition for Local Internet Choice. The group described its mission in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1kYqCOx) as seeking “to protect the rights of local communities to determine their economic futures by having the right and opportunity to choose for themselves the best broadband internet infrastructure for their businesses, institutions and residents.” Identified as members were Joanne Hovis, a NATOA board member and consultant who specializes in planning public and nonprofit broadband projects; Jim Baller of Baller Herbst, which has done work on behalf of municipal broadband projects; Chris Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and Catharine Rice, president of the SouthEast Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, an NATOA chapter.

New America’s Open Technology Institute advanced to the second stage of the New York Economic Development Corporation’s Resilient Innovation for a Strong Economy competition. Finalists will be chosen from those making it to the second stage, an OTI spokeswoman said. OTI is proposing to create resilient local mesh networks and is seeking community-based organizations and small businesses as potential partners, the organization said in a Monday news release (http://bit.ly/1xyA9jk). It said the idea is similar to Red Hook WiFi, a community wireless mesh network in Brooklyn, New York, that kept people connected during Superstorm Sandy.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed HB-2453 (http://bit.ly/1jV2Ht9) into law Friday, letting Chicago increase its monthly 911 charges on wireline, wireless and prepaid cellphones. The fee could be up to $3.90 for landline and wireless service and up to 9 percent of the transaction cost for prepaid cellphones, said a summary by Illinois APCO (http://bit.ly/1pTMkSX). Chicago wireline and wireless fees were capped at $2.50 and the prepaid fee at 7 percent, APCO said. The measure, which took effect immediately, has come under attack from free-market groups like the Institute for Policy Innovation, which said the increase could produce more than 911 needs and be used for other purposes like bolstering the city’s pension fund. Consumers “expect the money to be spent on the 911 system, not supporting the city’s general slush fund, especially when a typical family of four will be paying well over $300 a year just in taxes and fees, almost enough for five kids to eat a subsidized school lunch the whole school year,” said the institute in a blog post Thursday (http://bit.ly/1kWOWiw). “It is exactly those families with the least resources who will be hit the hardest.” Neither Quinn nor Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, both Democrats, responded to our inquiries Monday. The measure also brings changes in 911 funding throughout the state (CD June 6 p13).

Senate Republicans warned the FCC not to pre-empt states’ ability to restrict municipal broadband. Eleven senators wrote the agency a letter Thursday questioning FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s stated desire to pre-empt state law on this count. “The insinuation” the FCC “will force taxpayer funded competition against private broadband providers -- against the wishes of the states -- is deeply troubling,” said the letter, whose lead signatory is Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. Other signatories included Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. They slammed Wheeler for not respecting states’ rights.

A measure that would let Chicago increase monthly 911 charges on wireline, wireless and prepaid cellphones was awaiting a signature from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn after being approved by both chambers of the Democratic General Assembly May 30. A spokesman for Quinn, a Democrat, was not immediately available for comment. HB-2453 (http://bit.ly/1jV2Ht9) would let Chicago impose monthly fees of up to $3.90 for landline and wireless service and up to 9 percent of the transaction cost for prepaid cellphones, according to a summary by Illinois APCO (http://bit.ly/1pTMkSX). These increases will be in effect until July 1, 2015, when they are scheduled to revert to the current rates. Chicago wireline and wireless fees are now capped at $2.50 and the prepaid fee at 7 percent, APCO said. The conservative Heartland Institute opposed the measure. The proposal by Mayor Rahm Emanuel would mean a 56 percent increase in the city’s cellphone tax, making it the highest of its kind in the U.S., Heartland Government Relations Director John Nothdurft said in a statement (http://bit.ly/1re8DHp). Emanuel’s office was not immediately available for comment. The measure keeps the wireless 911 surcharge outside of Chicago at $0.73, but reduces the amount that goes to carriers and increases the amount given to 911 systems, the APCO summary said. Additional funding would go to counties with less than 100,000 people, which are especially financially strapped, APCO said. The measure would establish a statewide 911 administrator within the state police to develop and implement a statewide 911 network outside Chicago. The state’s 9-1-1 Services Advisory Board is charged with developing a plan by April 1, 2015, for the creation of a statewide network, the consolidation of 911 systems and services, and a plan for implementing next-generation 911, APCO said.

Connecticut residents will be able to block unsolicited commercial text messages beginning Oct. 1, after Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy signed SB-209 into law (http://1.usa.gov/1kAjmHx) May 29. The measure, which adds the solicitations to the state’s “Do Not Call” Registry, responds to changing technology, Malloy said in a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1kqNsNJ). In addition to the texts being an annoyance, “some cell phone plans charge a fee for each text,” the release said. It said the new law also increases the maximum fine for each registry violation from $11,000 to $20,000.

The Perkins School for the Blind was certified by the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau to distribute communications equipment to Vermont’s low-income deaf or blind under the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP), said an agency public notice Monday (http://fcc.us/1ueh3MQ). The Nebraska Assistive Technology Partnership (NATP) was also certified for Nebraska, the agency said. Certification for both will be effective July 1.