US Senate

Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced the Consumer Data Privacy and Security Act to strengthen the laws that govern consumers’ personal data and create clear standards and regulations for American businesses that collect, process and use consumers’ personally identifiable data. The Consumer Data Privacy and Security Act would:

Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sens Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced new legislation to deter anticompetitive abuses that distort the competitive process and harm consumers, innovation, and new business formation. The Anticompetitive Exclusionary Conduct Prevention Act prohibits anticompetitive exclusionary conduct that risks harm to the competitive process.

Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced the introduction of the Homework Gap Trust Fund Act, legislation to eliminate the homework gap and ensure children have access to the internet at home. According to the Senate Joint Economic Committee, as many as 12 million students do not have access to the internet at home. Data also suggests that while 70 percent of teachers assign homework that requires internet access, almost 20 percent of students don’t have home internet access to complete it.

Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) led a bipartisan group of senators to urge the Trump administration to expand access to rural broadband by changing a requirement that prevents providers in rural communities across 19 states from even applying to the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) ReConnect program, which funds rural broadband deployment. Since 2018, USDA has been authorized to make grants and loans of about $600 million per year to foster rural broadband through its ReConnect program.