June 24, 2026 · COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY · 719 words · 14 speakers · 39 segments
I call this meeting of the Senate Communications and Technology Committee to order.
Matt, please call the roll. Baker?
Here.
Boscola?
Here.
Ferry?
Here.
Gebhardt?
Here.
Kane?
Here.
Malone?
Here.
Miller?
Here.
Phillips Hill?
Here.
Picozzi?
Here.
K.Dot Ward?
Roxy?
Penny Cook?
Here.
Having established a quorum, we have one bill on our agenda today. I call up House Bill 78, printer number 1476, sponsored by Representative Nielsen. This bill creates the Freestanding Consumer Data Privacy Act, providing for consumer data privacy rights, duties of controllers, and duties of processors, and imposes penalties. I will move the bill. Do I have a second? Senator Ferry, House Bill 78 is now before the committee. Representative Nielsen has joined us today. Would you like to please make a few comments on your bill?
Good morning, Madam Chair. Yes, I would. First, I'd like to thank you, Chair Miller, and the rest of the committee for taking this issue up here in the Senate. House Bill 78 offers a straightforward set of consumer data protections that help people better understand how their information is being used While giving businesses a clear and straightforward manageable guidelines to work under We've been trying to do this, Madam Chair, as you know, a few years now. And I'm just grateful that we could all bring all these parties together. And I want to thank all the teams, because we have some good teams. And they worked hard to get this to where it is today. And I just appreciate an affirmative vote. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Representative. I believe that House Bill 78 represents a meaningful step forward in protecting the personal data of Pennsylvanians and ensuring that companies are held to a basic standard of responsibility when they collect, use, and share that information. In today's economy, personal data is not just an afterthought. It is a valuable, sensitive, and too often handled without enough transparency or accountability. This bill gives consumers clearer rights over their own information while setting reasonable expectations for businesses. Similar protections have already been enacted in 19 other states and in the absence of federal action it is up to the General Assembly to act This is a common step to strengthen consumer trust protect our constituents and make clear that the responsible data stewardship should be the standard. There's been a lot of hard work put in, and I want to thank you, Representative, and all the stakeholders and all the staff and my colleagues for their work, feedback, and dedication in helping protect Pennsylvania's first comprehensive data privacy framework. There is an amendment. I will offer amendment number A03914. This amendment clarifies the private right of action provision in the bill, makes changes to the definition of controller, and makes a technical change to citations in the exemption portion of the bill. I will move the amendment. Do I have a second? Senator Phillips Hill, is there any discussion on the amendment? Senator Miller. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. First of all, I want to thank all the hard work of our House member and the chairwoman and all the stakeholders. A lot of time and effort's been put into this. It long overdue a framework that we can continue to work on I am asking my members to be a no on the amendment I think there some final tweaks that need to be done to get to a final product But protecting consumers is our top priority and this is a really good first step to doing that So I'm asking my members to be a yes on the final bill, but a no on the amendment. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Miller. Matt, can we have a roll call vote on the amendment?
Baker?
Aye.
Boscola? No.
Ferry? Aye.
Gephard? Aye.
Kane? No.
Malone? No.
Miller? No.
Phillips Hill? Aye.
Picozzi? Aye.
Kay Ward? Proxy, aye.
Penico. Aye.
Amendment A03914 is adopted. Back to the bill as amended. Is there any further discussion on the bill as amended? Seeing none. Hearing none, are there any negative votes on House Bill 78? Seeing none, hearing none, House Bill 78 passes unanimously. Excuse me. That concludes our agenda for today. The Communications and Technology Committee stands in recess to the call of the Chair. Congratulations.