A new-look Washington state Senate privacy bill took fire from all sides at its first hearing Thursday. Business groups at a Senate Technology Committee virtual hearing said they prefer the 2021 Washington Privacy Act (SB-5062) by Chairman Reuven Carlyle (D) to his pared-down SB-5813 this year. The American Civil Liberties Union, a SB-5062 opponent, said SB-5813 is better but still wouldn’t meaningfully protect privacy. Two state government offices also raised concerns.

A new-look Washington state Senate privacy bill took fire from all sides at its first hearing Thursday. Business groups at a Senate Technology Committee virtual hearing said they prefer the 2021 Washington Privacy Act (SB-5062) by Chairman Reuven Carlyle (D) to his pared-down SB-5813 this year. The American Civil Liberties Union, a SB-5062 opponent, said SB-5813 is better but still wouldn’t meaningfully protect privacy. Two state government offices also raised concerns.

Contrary to the Jan. 10 notice of supplemental authorities from Section 301 test case lawyers Akin Gump that two recent Court of International Trade decisions bolster their arguments that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative violated the 1974 Trade Act and 1946 Administrative Procedure Act when it imposed the lists 3 and 4A tariffs on Chinese imports (see 2201110009), “neither decision is ‘pertinent’ nor ‘significant’ to plaintiffs’ claims,” the Department of Justice responded Jan. 20 in a letter. Section 307 of the Trade Act “unambiguously supports that the word ‘modify’ permits an increase in tariffs,” as the government contends in the Section 301 case, DOJ said. “To imply a limitation permitting only a decrease in tariffs would be inconsistent” with Section 307, “and would require adding language that Congress omitted” in the statute, it said. The APA issues discussed in a second decision, Invenergy Renewables LLC v. United States, in which the court found USTR violated the statute by not addressing “significant comments” raised by the public, “are easily distinguishable from this case,” DOJ said. The significant comments that the court determined were unaddressed in Invenergy “concerned the USTR’s authority to withdraw a previously-granted exclusion,” plus “other statutory considerations,” it said. In the Section 301 case, USTR “plainly addressed its statutory authority for issuing List 3 and List 4 and the objective of eliminating China’s unfair trade practices,” it said. “We respectfully submit” that neither decision “constitutes persuasive authority that supports granting judgment for the plaintiffs,” DOJ said. Oral argument is scheduled for Feb. 1.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 16-6 Thursday to advance to the floor a bill that would ban Big Tech platforms from self-preferencing products (see 2201140049). Despite calls from tech companies and Republicans for a legislative hearing, Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told us she’s focused on getting the bill to the floor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a legislative hearing before marking up a bill that would ban Big Tech platforms from self-preferencing, TechNet wrote the committee Monday. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S-2992) is set for markup Thursday, after being held over one week (see 2201140049). Now isn’t the time for lawmakers to “rush through a bill that would raise costs on hardworking Americans and small businesses across the country,” said Senior Vice President Carl Holshouser: The bill “would fundamentally alter our economy and would negatively impact conveniences that individuals and businesses rely on.” The Software & Information Industry Association is “particularly troubled” that the committee scheduled markup of the bill “without holding even a single hearing,” said Paul Lekas, senior vice president-global public policy. “This is too important a matter to rush and requires a thoughtful approach that creates policy designed to further consumer protection, U.S. innovation, and healthy competition,” said Lekas Wednesday.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Congress would never have raised the minimis level to $800 if it had known how many products would be sold through e-commerce channels from China and shipped directly to customers. "It was never intended to be anything like this, and not only are they evading payment of duty, but they are escaping any sort of meaningful oversight," he said in a phone interview from Oregon with International Trade Today. "And as you know, we're deeply concerned about forced labor."

The Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a legislative hearing before marking up a bill that would ban Big Tech platforms from self-preferencing, TechNet wrote the committee Monday. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S-2992) is set for markup Thursday, after being held over one week (see 2201140049). Now isn’t the time for lawmakers to “rush through a bill that would raise costs on hardworking Americans and small businesses across the country,” said Senior Vice President Carl Holshouser: The bill “would fundamentally alter our economy and would negatively impact conveniences that individuals and businesses rely on.”

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., confirmed to us Monday he’s asking for a panel hearing on ethics concerns about Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn’s role as a board member for Locast operator Sports Fans Coalition given the shuttered sports rebroadcaster’s $32 million lawsuit settlement, as expected (see 2201130071). “My initial review of the confidential settlement raises several troubling questions about” Sohn’s “nomination,” Wicker said in a statement. “The possibility of the nominee’s future financial liability to a number of companies regulated by the FCC, and the timing of this settlement in relation to her nomination, demands a full discussion by the committee to ensure that there is a clear understanding of the ability for this nominee to act without any cloud of ethical doubt. The committee needs to hold a new hearing on this matter to provide the nominee an opportunity to fully address these concerns.” A committee GOP spokesperson confirmed Wicker obtained a copy of the confidential version of the settlement from involved broadcasters. Senate Commerce Democrats are highly unlikely to agree to hold the hearing, but amplified attention on Sohn’s Locast connections could be problematic because the majority has been eyeing a panel vote on the nominee Jan. 26 (see 2201070058). The White House and Senate Commerce didn’t comment Tuesday.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he knows that Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., is sincere in his concern that the more generous de minimis threshold since 2016 has had unintended consequences. Blumenauer was one of just 24 House Democrats who supported the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act that raised the threshold to $800. Blumenauer introduced a bill (see 2201180053) that would bar importers of Chinese goods from using de minimis, and would also end the ability to send exports to Canada and Mexico to wait in warehouses until a U.S. buyer makes an online purchase.

Sponsors of a bill that would ban Big Tech platforms from self-preferencing their products are optimistic about passage, but two Republican holdouts shared reservations in interviews last week. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S-2992) is set for markup Thursday after being held over one week. The bill would bar dominant platforms from acting to prevent rival products from competing on their platforms.