Wicker, Thune Say Senate Commerce Privacy Negotiations at Standstill
Senate Commerce Committee privacy negotiations are at a standstill, Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday. “We continue to be hopeful, but at this point, there isn’t any path forward,” Thune said, blaming…
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trial lawyers for continuing to move the goalposts on what constitutes an acceptable compromise. “We’re at loggerheads,” Wicker said. “The issues are what the issues have been all along,” including a private right of action and federal pre-emption. “One of the actions that drew attention to this issue to begin with was the California law, which does not have a private right of action,” he said: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act “doesn’t have a private right of action. The bipartisan Washington state law doesn’t have a private right of action. So I don’t know why it’s become a cause celebre for federal data privacy legislation.” It’s a nonstarter for Republicans, but Democrats are insistent, Wicker said. “At some point, a decision is going to have to be made: Do we have a federal standard or not? Consumer groups, small businesses, providers and all sorts of employers and employees across the nation are going to soon see the benefit if not the necessity of having a nationwide standard.”