Washington state bills requiring privacy and AI transparency are apparently dead after missing a Friday cutoff to clear fiscal committees in the legislature. However, child privacy bills in the House and Senate cleared their respective fiscal committees in time.
Senate Republicans expect a straightforward path to confirming FTC nominee Mark Meador, which would allow the commission’s Republican majority to act on two privacy rulemakings.
Vermont Rep. Monique Priestley (D) criticized a comprehensive privacy bill introduced Thursday in the state Senate. Sen. Thomas Chittenden (D) introduced S-93 on the same day that the Senate Institutions Committee started walking through the Senate version (S-71) of Priestley’s previously introduced H-208, which also seeks a broad data privacy law (see 2502130013).
A Vermont Senate panel narrowed the scope of a kids code bill at a livestreamed meeting Thursday. The Institutions Committee then split 3-2 to clear S-69, with Republicans casting the no votes.
Nine people testified in opposition to New Mexico’s proposed Consumer Information and Data Protection Act during a bill hearing Wednesday, arguing that the comprehensive privacy bill doesn't protect minority groups and provides exemptions for large corporations. Despite two business groups testifying in favor of the bill, House Commerce Committee Chair Doreen Gallegos (D) delayed a vote until a later date.
The Kentucky House unanimously supported revising healthcare exemptions in the state’s comprehensive privacy law. The House voted 96-0 Tuesday for HB-473, which would update the law by fleshing out an exemption for data subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (see 2502190028). Kentucky’s comprehensive privacy law takes effect next January. HB-473 goes next to the Senate.
A Vermont Senate panel weighed changes to an age-appropriate design code bill (S-69) at a meeting Wednesday. The Institutions Committee was scheduled to meet again about the bill Thursday.
The Connecticut Senate will vote on an AI bill by Sen. James Maroney (D) this year, as it did last year, declared President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D) at a press conference ahead of a Wednesday hearing on SB-2. While Looney said passage of the bill is urgent, Connecticut's chief innovation officer told a hearing the state risks regulating too soon and getting it wrong.
Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) would lack the resources to enforce Maryland privacy laws without a proposed tax on data brokers that would fund a dedicated privacy team in his office, he said during a state House Economic Matters Committee hearing Tuesday. During a livestreamed session, the panel heard testimony on HB-1089, which would require that data brokers register with the state and, starting in the 2027 tax year, pay a 6% tax on gross income.
The Montana Senate voted 49-0 to pass substantive updates to the state’s comprehensive privacy law on Monday.