Keypoint: This week Florida came close to passing a bill before it died on the final day of the legislative session; committees in Colorado and Alaska scheduled hearings on their bills for May 5; and the Connecticut bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary.

Below is our tenth weekly update on the status of proposed CCPA-like privacy legislation. Before we get to our update, we wanted to provide two reminders.

First, we have been regularly updating our 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker to keep pace with the latest developments. We encourage you to bookmark the page for easy reference.

What’s New

After a tumultuous two weeks, Florida’s legislature ultimately failed to pass privacy legislation before it closed on April 30. On April 21, the Florida House of Representatives passed HB 969 by a vote of 118 to 1. On April 29, the Florida Senate passed a different version of the bill by a vote of 29-11 and sent the bill back to the House. On April 30, the House declined to consider the bill and it died. According to numerous reports, the primary disagreement was over whether the bill should include a private right of action.

In the span of two weeks, bills have failed in both a blue state (Washington) and red state (Florida) on the same issue – a private right of action (and, perhaps more generally, how the law should be enforced, including whether there should be a right to cure). Without solving this issue (such as through the creation of a data protection authority as will happen in California), it remains to be seen whether Washington and Florida will have any better chance of passing legislation next year.

In Colorado, the Colorado Privacy Act is set for a hearing on May 5 in the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee. Senator Rodriguez, who co-sponsored the bill, is the chair of the Committee. As we previously reported, Colorado’s legislative calendar states that the deadline for bills to pass out of the Senate was April 7. Nonetheless, it appears that lawmakers are treating that deadline as optional and proceeding with a hearing. The Colorado legislature adjourns on June 12.

In Alaska, the House Labor and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on HB 159 on May 5. It previously held a hearing on the bill on April 23. You can access the recording here.

In Connecticut, SB 893 was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary on April 28.

Finally, many thanks to Joe Duball from the IAPP for helping us keep up to date.

Overview

To date, state lawmakers have introduced bills in 26 states. Multiple bills were introduced in Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington. One state (Virginia) has passed legislation whereas the bills in ten states (Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia) have failed.

The below analysis divides the bills into four categories: (1) passed bills, (2) active bills, (3) introduced bills, and (4) dead bills.

Passed bills are those that have become law (i.e., Virginia). Active bills are those that have seen some movement, such as a committee hearing or vote. Introduced bills are those that have been introduced in a state legislature but have yet to see any movement (other than, for example, being referred to a committee). Dead bills are (as you might have guessed) bills that have failed.

For links to all of these bills please see our 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker.

Passed Bills

Virginia

On March 2, 2021, Virginia became the second state – after California – to enact state consumer data privacy legislation. You can find our coverage of the Virginia bill here, and you can find the text of the new law here. We also hosted a webinar on the law on March 11. You can access the recording here.

Active Bills

Alaska

SB 116 and HB 159 were introduced on March 31. The House Labor and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on HB 159 on May 5. It previously held a hearing on the bill on April 23. You can access the recording here. The Alaska legislature adjourns on May 19.

Colorado

SB21-190 was introduced on March 19, 2021, and assigned to the Senate Committee on Business, Labor and Technology. It is set for a hearing on May 5 in the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee. You can read our analysis of the bill here. The Colorado legislature adjourns on June 12.

Connecticut

SB 893, which is similar to Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act, was reported out of Legislative Commissioner’s Office on April 8 and given a Senate calendar number. On April 28, it was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary. Senate Bill 156, a one-paragraph bill, introduced on January 15 has not seen movement since the Joint General Law Committee held a public hearing on February 25. The Connecticut legislature adjourns on June 9.

Nevada

On March 17, 2021, Nevada lawmakers introduced AB323 and SB260. AB323 failed on April 10. SB260 passed the Senate on April 20, and was heard by the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee on April 30. The Nevada legislature adjourns on June 1.

New Jersey

On March 15, the Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee held a hearing on three bills (A5448, A3283, and A3255). A recording of the hearing is available here.

Introduced Bills

Alabama

House Bill 216 was introduced on February 2, 2021. Notably, the bill has attracted 18 Republican sponsors or co-sponsors. However, to date, it has not moved forward and is currently referred to the House committee on Technology and Research. The bill is similar to the CCPA. The Alabama legislature adjourns on May 30.

Illinois

Illinois is considering two bills.

First, HB 2404 (the Right to Know Act) is presently assigned to the Rules Committee. It had previously been assigned to the Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, & IT Committee. As its name suggests, the Right to Know Act would provide Illinois residents with the right to know certain information regarding their personal information.

In addition to HB 2404, Illinois lawmakers also introduced HB 3910 (entitled the Consumer Privacy Act) on February 22. That bill was assigned to the Judiciary – Civil Committee on March 16, to the Civil Procedure & Tort Liability Subcommittee on March 23 and re-referred to the Rules Committee on March 27. HB 3910 is a modified version of the CCPA.

Massachusetts

SD 1726 was filed on February 18, 2021. On March 29, it was referred to the joint committee on Advance Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity. The bill is a modified version of Washington’s People’s Privacy Act. A second bill, HD 3847, was filed in the state house. On April 13, it also was referred to the joint committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity.

Minnesota

Minnesota is considering two bills – HF 36 and HF 1492 / SF 1408. The bills have not seen movement since being introduced.

HF 36 is a modified (and shortened) version of the CCPA and contains a private right of action. HF 1492 / SF 1408 are similar to the Washington and Virginia bills.

The Minnesota legislature adjourns on May 17.

New York

As shown on our tracker, New York legislators have proposed a number of consumer privacy bills in 2021. All of those bills currently sit in committee. However, according to Joe Duball and Joseph Jerome, the Governor’s budget proposal no longer contains privacy provisions. The New York legislature adjourns on June 10.

North Carolina

Senate Bill 569 was introduced on April 6 and referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate. The North Carolina legislature adjourns on July 2.

Pennsylvania

House Bill 1126 was introduced on April 7 and referred to the Consumer Affairs Committee.

Rhode Island

House Bill 5959 was introduced on February 26, 2021. On March 29, the House Committee on Corporations held a hearing on the bill and recommended that it be held for further study. The bill would require certain companies to provide privacy policy disclosures. The Rhode Island legislature adjourns on June 30.

South Carolina

H 3063 was pre-filed on December 9, 2020 and referred to the Committee on Labor on January 12, 2021. It has not moved since. The bill is limited to providing rights around the collection and use of biometric information. The South Carolina legislature adjourns on May 13.

Texas

In Texas, Representative Capriglione filed six bills “related to increasing the protection of consumer data by the private sector.” One bill, HB 3741, is a data privacy omnibus bill. As introduced, the bill is perhaps best described as a heavily modified version of the CCPA, however, there are many aspects of the bill that make it unique, including its creation of three “categories” of data. On March 22, the bill was referred to the House Committee for Business & Industry. The Texas legislature adjourns on May 31.

Vermont

H.160 is still a short form bill (i.e., only one paragraph long). The bill has been referred to committee and no further action has been taken to date. The Vermont legislature adjourns on May 28.

Dead Bills

Arizona’s HB 2865, Florida’s HB 969 and SB 1734, Kentucky’s HB 408, Maryland’s SB 930, North Dakota’s HB 1330, Oklahoma’s HB 1602, Mississippi’s Senate Bill 2612, Utah’s SB 200, Washington’s SB 5062, and West Virginia’s HB 3159 have all died.

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