The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill prohibiting the disclosure or sale of a person’s Social Security Number without permission Thursday after resolving a jurisdictional dispute with the Senate Finance Committee.
The dispute over the Social Security Number Misuse Prevention Act, (S-848) introduced a little over a year ago by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), erupted earlier in the week when Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) noticed the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), was scheduled to act on the measure.
Baucus and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking minority member of the Finance Committee, immediately fired off letters asking Leahy to postpone consideration of the bill until their committee acted on it.
“A careful review of S-848 clearly shows that the preponderance of its provisions fall within the scope of the Finance Committee’s jurisdiction,” they said.
The three, after brief discussions with Feinstein, agreed that the measure would immediately go to the Finance Committee for consideration after Judiciary Committee Action.
After Judiciary Committee approval of the bill, Baucus, noting it was mistakenly sent to Leahy’s committee for action before his, said the Finance Committee would consider it “as soon as the committee schedule permits.”
Baucus, noting there is noting in the Senate’s rules “to correct” a mistake like this, said he intended to bring the bill up for Finance Committee consideration “as soon as the committee schedule permits,” but could not say just when that would be.
While there was no immediate comment from Leahy, Feinstein said she hoped the Finance Committee would act quickly on the bill so it could be considered by the full Senate as soon as possible.
Feintein’s bill would prohibit the sale or display of an individual’s Social Security Numbers to the general public without permission; remove a person’s Social Security Number from various government documents, including checks and state-issued driver’s licenses, death certificates, professional licenses, birth certificates, bankruptcy records, court judgments, and tax liens.
It would also give individuals the right to refuse to disclose their Social Security Numbers “to companies that don’t really need it,” and to sue any individual or entity that discloses their Social Security Number without permission for damages of up to $2,500 per incident. Violators would also face civil penalties of up to $50,000 for the unauthorized disclosure of a person’s Social Security Number.
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