Senate committee advances data-broker bill, adds EdTech registration

The Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs committee on May 27 voted to report favorably on H.2.11 with committee amendment draft 5.1, advancing a package of changes that regulate data brokers and create an educational-technology registration overseen by the secretary of state.

Legislative counsel Rick Bridal said the amendment "highlights in yellow are new from draft 4.1" and walked members through edits that remove certain House provisions from the committee's definition of "publicly available information," make some grammatical and organizational changes, and make the data-broker deletion opt-out link optional rather than mandatory. Bridal also said the amendment adds a committee definition of "consumer" aligned to language in S.71 and incorporates EdTech registration language (from H.650) limited to software used "for teaching and learning purposes."

The committee adopted a narrow version of the EdTech definition that excludes hardware and focuses on products used in K–12 settings; Bridal said the registry approach is intended as a "building block" for later regulation. He also noted the amendment delays data-broker changes until Jan. 1 to give the state time to update systems and sets the EdTech registry effective date for July 1, 2026.

Several members raised concerns that the bill's definitions could miss some products that are used in schools without the provider's knowledge. One member cautioned, "I think you'll miss a lot" of EdTech products that lack formal contracts with schools and so would not immediately appear on a registry. Another member said the committee should consider drafting a companion amendment to amend S.71 so definitions are consistent across statutes.

An attendee identified as Jeff, an executive director with the NEA-affiliated group who addressed the panel for the record, said education stakeholders recently submitted a letter to the finance committee and "did not oppose the registry" in its earlier form and offered to share that statement with lawmakers.

Committee member (speaker S4) moved favorably on H.2.11 with draft 5.1 dated 05/27/2026; the chair called the question and members answered in the affirmative during the roll call. Committee members agreed to continue work over the summer and pursue harmonization of definitions in S.71 where necessary.

The committee noted next steps: the amendment-reporting action sends H.2.11 toward floor consideration and committee staff will continue working with stakeholders to refine EdTech definitions and cross-reference other statutes. The chair said the committee would begin a separate review of cannabis items for the sponsors following this meeting.

The clerk will include the committee amendment (5.1) in the record. The bill text, amendment language, and stakeholder letters were discussed during the meeting and will be available with the committee papers.