Progressive groups urge Pelosi to hold vote on privacy bill that faces uphill battle in Senate

Leading progressive groups are urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to schedule a vote on bipartisan privacy legislation that lacks crucial support among Senate Democrats.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 48 other advocacy groups wrote to Mrs. Pelosi requesting that she schedule a vote on the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, authored by Reps. Frank Pallone, New Jersey Democrat, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington Republican.

The bill aims to minimize the collection of people’s data, give consumers the ability to turn off targeted ads and create a new privacy bureau within the Federal Trade Commission, among other things.

“The time is now to pass a comprehensive federal privacy and civil rights law,” the groups wrote. “We fear that a failure to move the bill in this Congress will forestall progress on this issue for years to come. We urge you to move the bill to a vote as soon as possible.”

The Leadership Conference and fellow progressive groups including the NAACP and the National Urban League wrote in the letter on Thursday that work is still needed on the bill to address concerns, but they fret the consequences of inaction. 

The groups lauded the bill’s provisions to prohibit the discriminatory use of personal data, minimize data collection, and test algorithms for bias, among other things.  

But Mrs. Pelosi may not be the legislation’s biggest obstacle. While the bill advanced through the House Energy and Commerce Committee last month by a vote of 53-2, it appears unlikely to get a hearing in the Senate.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, Washington Democrat, has said there is no chance Senate Democrats would bring the bill up for a vote.

Federal regulators are poised to enact new privacy rules regardless of whether Congress moves. The FTC said earlier this month it is exploring new rules about commercial surveillance and data security.

The independent agency, now led by one of President Biden’s appointees, is looking for the authority to impose penalties that it hopes will incentivize companies to comply with the government’s demands.