Bilirakis Expects House Subcommittee Markup on Privacy

Expect a subcommittee markup on bipartisan privacy legislation in the weeks after a June 14 legislative hearing (see 2206070062), House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told us Wednesday.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but the thing I like is we’re going to have regular order,” meaning a markup in the weeks after the hearing, said Bilirakis: “We’ll probably make some changes, if needed, but yeah, I think it has a good shot,” he said. The House Commerce Committee doesn’t have any markup announcements now, but the panel is “proud of its long tradition of regular order,” a committee aide said Wednesday.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., introduced a draft discussion with Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., last week. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a key holdout, told reporters Tuesday the committees need to “get people in a room” to further iron out details. Pallone and Rodgers presented Cantwell with a “great opportunity” for a “real accomplishment” on privacy, Wicker told us.

“Serious conversations” with Cantwell and Wicker are ongoing to see what “consensus and compromise” can be achieved, House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., told us Wednesday. “I feel good about it,” she said. “We seem to have” all stakeholders, including consumer and business groups, on board, she said: “I think this is a gelling moment.”

“If we do not act now, the prospects are pretty dim in the next Congress,” Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., told us Wednesday. Members need to hear from more stakeholders and groups, but having a bipartisan framework is “very positive,” she said.

Asked if the bill can move forward without Cantwell’s support, Wicker said, “We certainly hope” to get her buy-in. Asked about the potential that Cantwell moves to mark up her own Democratic privacy bill, he told us that would be a departure from how the committee operated under his leadership. Cantwell told us last month she was eyeing a markup for tech legislation in June. She marked up a Democratic bill on FTC Act Section 13(b) after failing to reach a compromise with Wicker (see 2205110069). Cantwell said her privacy bill is strong. Asked about a potential markup, she said, “We want to get a lot done in the area of privacy. We need to get USICA [U.S. Innovation and Competition Act] done, we need to get privacy done, we need to get some of these other bills done, but we’ve just got to get people in a room.”

“If in the House, they’re showing more progress because” Pallone is finding consensus with Wicker, “that’s a path that should be considered,” said Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. “We'll see what happens.” He said he’s encouraged by activity in the House, which appears more likely to move a bill first.

“There’s always been daylight” on privacy negotiations, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters: The discussion draft “has some good things, but it also has some downsides.” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, who has been active on privacy negotiations, said he’s more focused now on climate change and gun safety legislation. Asked about federal preemption on privacy, he said his position has always been the same: For preemption to make sense, the bill has to be strong enough. Castor applauded the draft discussion’s inclusion of some of the “strongest elements from” her Kids Privacy Act (see 2203010072). That includes a ban on behavioral-based, targeted advertising for children and creating an FTC bureau focused on youth. “We have room to improve it,” she said.

“I’m glad to see us make some progress,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.: Privacy is the “easiest” Big Tech issue to address, “though it’s still hard.”