A Minnesota lawmaker and a labor group pushed back Monday against the telecom industry's opposition to advancing a proposal on broadband workforce safety. The state's Senate planned to weigh the measure as part of a labor omnibus (HF-5242), but senators hadn’t voted by our deadline. The Minnesota Cable Association (MCA), Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) and the Wireless ISP Association (WISPA) warned Gov. Tim Walz (D) that the proposal would discourage carriers from seeking federal broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) and other high-speed internet grants.
TikTok will challenge the newly approved “unconstitutional” law forcing ByteDance to sell the platform, it said in a statement Wednesday as President Joe Biden signed the measure.
Nebraska will be the 17th state with a comprehensive privacy law. Gov. Jim Pillen (R) on Thursday signed a legislative package (LB-1074) containing a proposal from LB-1294 from Sen. Eliot Bostar (D). Microsoft supported the bill (see 2404150022) but Consumer Reports says the Nebraska policy, which is similar to a Texas privacy law, doesn’t cover enough businesses and lacks teeth (see 2404120047). “Nebraska lawmakers should use the next legislative session to make much needed improvements to strengthen this law,” CR Policy Analyst Matt Schwartz said Friday.
Maine’s comprehensive data privacy bill came up short in the state Senate on Wednesday. The bill appeared to fail when senators voted 15-18 on a Judiciary Committee majority recommendation that LD-1977 by Rep. Margaret O’Neil (D) “ought to pass.” The House narrowly passed the bill a day earlier in a 75-70 vote. The bill isn't necessarily dead. When the chambers disagree, Maine's legislative process allows each body to insist on their vote. This forces the other side to vote again. A conference committee could also be requested. Both chambers agreed to kill an alternative bill (LD-1973) by Sen. Lisa Keim (R). The House supported a majority recommendation that the bill “ought not to pass” by a 81-63 vote Wednesday. The Senate voted 18-14 for that recommendation on Tuesday. Privacy watchers said LD-1977 is notable for proposing strict data minimization standards (see 2403270045).
Congress should eliminate the FCC’s data breach notification authority and instead allow the FTC to regulate through a federal privacy law, a privacy-focused telecom association told House Commerce Committee members Wednesday (see 2404160034).
A Tennessee bill restricting children on social media will go to Gov. Bill Lee (R). The state House concurred with Senate amendments to HB-1891 in a 90-2 vote Monday. Lee supports the bill, which would require parental consent for kids younger than 18 on social networks (see 2404090018). In Colorado, a social media bill will go on the Senate unanimous consent calendar, the chamber’s Appropriations Committee decided unanimously on Tuesday. The bill (SB-158) would require social media platforms to publish policies and update them within 14 days of any changes to the policies. Also, it would require companies to use reasonable age verification to give users the option of applying certain settings and parental tools for known juveniles under 18. In Wisconsin, bills on minors using social media (AB-373 and SB-385) failed Monday. So did two bills on social media censorship (AB-894 and AB-895). And Wisconsin legislators failed to pass a comprehensive privacy bill (AB-466 and SB-642). Privacy bills failed in previous sessions, too (see 2312190060).
Microsoft applauded Nebraska lawmakers for passing a comprehensive privacy bill last week. “Microsoft is steadfast in our commitment to protect consumer privacy and work with policymakers at the state and federal level to advance robust privacy legislation,” a spokesperson emailed. Nebraska passing a Texas-style privacy bill drew concern Friday from Consumer Reports that the bill lacks teeth and doesn’t cover enough companies (see 2404120047). The bill still needs a signature from Gov. Jim Pillen (R) to become law.
Privacy legislation proposed by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has "no chance of passing," ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us last week. Cantwell said she supports the bill as written and is encouraged to see the House Commerce Committee moving toward a markup on the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA).
The Nebraska Legislature approved a comprehensive privacy bill as part of a larger package last week. The unicameral legislature voted 47-0 Thursday to approve a legislative omnibus (LB-1074) including the proposal from LB-1294 by Sen. Eliot Bostar (D). The privacy measure goes too easy on businesses, Consumer Reports (CR) said Friday. However, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said differences with other state laws will increase businesses’ burden.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers Tuesday introduced the House version of the Kids Online Safety Act (see 2401300086). House Innovation Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., introduced KOSA with Reps. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.; Erin Houchin, R-Ind.; and Kim Schrier, D-Wash. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., authored the Senate version, which the Senate Commerce Committee approved in July (see 2207270057). Castor also joined a bipartisan effort in introducing the House version of another Senate Commerce-passed kids’ safety bill, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). Castor introduced the bill with Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich. The House Commerce Committee is set to consider the bills and the American Privacy Rights Act (see 2404080062) at a legislative hearing Wednesday. “It is time for Congress to come together on comprehensive data privacy and security standards that put Americans back in control of their information online," House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said in a joint statement with ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J.