(AP) – A Missouri House committee is considering legislation that would outlaw a phenomenon known as “revenge pornography.”

“Revenge porn” is posting online sexually explicit photos or videos of ex-romantic partners as a way of humiliating them.

Sponsoring Rep. Kevin Engler told the House public safety committee Thursday that revenge porn can have a devastating effect on a person’s life. The Farmington Republican’s legislation would prohibit someone from observing and then disclosing images of intimate sexual acts without the other person’s consent.

Disclosing the explicit images would be considered a felony and is punishable by up to four years in prison.

The panel did not vote on Engler’s bill. Other states, including Pennsylvania and Virginia, are considering similar measures.

(AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback is proposing minor funding changes in the current fiscal year, including restoration of salary cuts for state university employees imposed last year by Kansas legislators.

Details of the $6 billion budget are being shared Thursday with members of the House and Senate budget committees.

Interim budget director Jon Hummell describes the increases for higher education, veterans and public schools as targeted expenditures. They include a plan to fund all-day kindergarten at $16 million, restore more than $5 million in university salary cuts and give state classified employees a 1.5 percent wage increase.

Most of the budget was settled by legislators in 2013. The goal was to create two-year budgets for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, 2013, and the 2015 budget.

The nominations for the 2014 Oscars were announced starting at 7:38 a.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Beverly Hills headquarters, presented by Actor Chris Hemsworth and President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. The nominees are listed below.

(The Live Thursday morning broadcast has ended)

BEST PICTURE

“12 Years a Slave”
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST DIRECTOR

David O. Russell, “American Hustle”
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
Alexander Payne, “Nebraska”
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”
Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale, “American Hustle”
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

The Oscsrs will be presented March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and broadcast live on ABC.

MORE TO COME

TOPEKA (AP) — The chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents says the board is unlikely to suspend a controversial new policy on social media use by university faculty and staff.

Chairman Fred Logan said Wednesday the policy likely would stay in place while a group of university representatives study its implications.

The regents received a resolution from faculty senate presidents at Kansas universities asking that the policy be suspended until the group completes its work.

The policy allows university administrators to discipline employees, including firing them, for improper use of social media. It was approved in December after a University of Kansas professor tweeted criticism of the National Rifle Association.

Opponents have argued the policy is too vague and restricts free speech rights of university staff and faculty.

In the wake of recent reports regarding several major data security breaches, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Tom Carper (Del.) introduced the “Data Security Act of 2014” today. The bipartisan bill will help protect consumers from identity theft and account fraud and establish clear and consistent rules of the road nationally for public and private institutions to follow to prevent and respond to data breaches.

The Data Security Act of 2014 would require entities such as financial institutions, retailers, and federal agencies to better safeguard sensitive information, investigate security breaches, and notify consumers when there is a substantial risk of identity theft or account fraud. These new requirements would apply to businesses that take credit or debit card information, data brokers that compile private information, and government agencies that possess nonpublic personal information.

“New technologies pose new opportunities – as well as new security challenges. As recent headlines have once again reminded us, now is the time to strengthen our nation’s data security and defend consumers against data breaches by both businesses and government agencies,” said Blunt. “I’m glad to work with Senator Carper again as we continue our bipartisan effort to create consistent, national standards to better protect consumers and businesses from identity theft and account fraud.”

“As the recent incidents involving Target and Neiman Marcus remind us, major data breaches that compromise consumers’ identities and financial security are becoming more routine. These recent breaches, and others before them, underscore the need for Congress to act to protect Americans against fraud and identity theft,” said Carper. “For millions of Americans, data breaches can cause worry and confusion and, in some cases, serious financial harm. We cannot allow technology advances to outpace the security measures in place to safeguard the transactions we conduct in person and online. This bipartisan and comprehensive approach would better serve consumers by ensuring that businesses and government agencies take the steps necessary to secure personal and financial information and respond swiftly and effectively in the unfortunate event of a breach.”

Additional Background On The “Data Security Act of 2014”:

• The Data Security Act would better protect consumers by replacing the current patchwork of state laws and establishing one set of national requirements. Today, 49 states and U.S. territories have enacted laws governing data security and data breach notification standards. Inconsistent and conflicting state-by-state standards force public and private entities to comply with multiple regulations, leaving many consumers in a confusing web of regulation depending on the state
• If the financial establishment, retailer, federal agency or other entity determines that sensitive information was compromised or may have been compromised, the Data Security Act of 2014 requires the entity to investigate the scope of the breach, the type of information compromised or potentially compromised, and determine whether the information will likely be used to cause an individual harm or bank fraud. If it is determined that the information was compromised and will cause harm, then the entity must notify the appropriate federal government regulatory agency, law enforcement, national consumer reporting agencies where the breach affects over 5,000 consumers and all consumers affected by the breach.
• The Data Security Act of 2014 is modeled after the data security and breach-response regime established under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 and subsequent regulations. It builds on existing law to better ensure federal and state regulators comply with the law and to make sure that data security procedures are uniformly applied.