House Lawmakers Target Sept, Oct for Data Privacy Bill

As talks on a data privacy bill reportedly lose steam in the Senate, two Democratic House aides said the House Commerce Committee is targeting the end of Sept or early Oct to introduce its own version of privacy legislation. Apparently, there are plans for Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) to head up the effort. One aide said the legislation is expected to include a few possible concessions that could fall by the wayside if the bill were to be reconciled with any Senate version through a conference committee. The aide said that some members understand that pre-emption language to override state laws would be necessary to pass a bill in this Congress. Another sticking point also lies in whether or not the bill should give consumers the right to sue companies for data breaches. One aide also said that it was “very possible” that the fall timeline for a data privacy bill could be derailed, depending on the discussions in the subcommittee.