HR 1731 Introduced – Cybersecurity Reporting

Last month Rep. Hines (D,CT) introduced HR 1731, Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2019. The bill would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish rules requiring the reporting of whether there was cybersecurity expertise on the board of directors or other governing body of each company required to file annual reports. This is a companion bill to S 592.

Hines and both of his two cosponsors {Rep. Heck (D,WA) and Rep. Meeks (D,NY)} are members of the House Financial Services Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that the bill can probably be expected to receive consideration. I see nothing in the bill that would cause any serious opposition; it would probably receive bipartisan support.

Hines introduced a similar bill last session (HR 6638) that died without action. Part of the reason was it’s relatively late introduction in the session, but it was also unlikely to receive active support from the more business friendly Republican leadership of the Committee. When (if) this bill is considered in Committee, the vote will provide a better view of how much bipartisan support the bill would actually receive on the floor. The bill is only likely to get House action if it can draw the super-majority support necessary for passage under the suspension of the rules process.