Text of GA HB 1205 (2024)

24 LC 55 0157 House Bill 1205 By: Representatives Jones of the 25th, Williams of the 148th, Cox of the 28th, Ridley of the 6th, Cannon of the 172nd, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 15 of Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, 1 relating to deceptive or unfair practices, so as to prohibit discrimination in the provision of 2 financial services; to require that financial institutions produce requested statements of 3 specific reasons for the denial, restriction, or termination of services; to provide for 4 definitions; to provide for legislative findings; to provide a short title; to provide for related 5 matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. 6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: 7 SECTION 1. 8 This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Equality in Financial Services Act." 9 SECTION 2. 10 The General Assembly finds, determines, and declares that: 11 (1) Obtaining access to financial services is a basic requirement for citizens of this state 12 to meaningfully participate in Georgia's marketplace; 13 (2) On account of their fundamental role in the marketplace, governments, at both the 14 federal and state level, have given financial institutions significant privileges and have 15 H. B. 1205 - 1 - 24 LC 55 0157 enacted state and federal laws that guarantee access to certain financial services without 16 discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, and other factors; 17 (3) New banks and other financial institutions face significant barriers to entry that 18 reduce the competitiveness of the marketplace and allow existing institutions to wield 19 significant power; 20 (4) Financial institutions should not act as de facto regulators of private conduct by 21 denying financial services based on a person's exercise of religion, association, speech, 22 social views, or participation in particular industries; 23 (5) Financial institutions have a responsibility to make decisions about whether to 24 provide a person with financial services on the basis of impartial criteria that are free 25 from discrimination or favoritism based on the aforementioned factors; 26 (6) Financial institutions also have a responsibility to disclose the conditions under 27 which they will deny a person financial services and, if they deny financial services, to 28 provide upon request a truthful and complete explanation to the person as to why such 29 financial services were denied; 30 (7) Financial institutions face increasing internal and external pressures to impede 31 otherwise lawful commerce based on a person's exercise of religion, association, speech, 32 social views, or participation in particular industries, and to do so covertly without 33 informing the person or the public why such services were or will be denied; 34 (8) When financial institutions omit material information about when they will deny 35 financial services or why they denied financial services to a person, such lack of 36 transparency harms specific persons and the general marketplace; 37 (9) Such deception and unfair discrimination in the provision of financial services 38 threatens the economy, security, and soundness of banking and other financial markets 39 in Georgia; and 40 H. B. 1205 - 2 - 24 LC 55 0157 (10) Such deceptive and unfairly discriminatory practices violate the public trust and 41 threaten the ability of the citizens of Georgia to speak freely as part of the democratic 42 process and to live freely according to the dictates of their conscience. 43 SECTION 3. 44 Article 15 of Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to 45 deceptive or unfair practices, is amended by adding a new part to read as follows: 46 "Part 10 47 10-1-439.20. 48 As used in this part, the term: 49 (1) 'Discriminate in the provision of financial services' means, directly or indirectly, 50 refusing to provide financial services or restricting or terminating the provision of 51 financial services to a person based on such person's social credit score. 52 (2) 'Financial institution' means: 53 (A) A bank or credit union that has more than $100 billion in assets and any affiliate 54 or subsidiary of such a bank or credit union; or 55 (B) A payment processor, credit card company, credit card network, payment network, 56 payment service provider, or payment gateway that has processed more 57 than $100 billion in transactions in the most recent calendar year and any affiliate or 58 subsidiary of such an entity. 59 (3) 'Financial services' means any financial product or service offered by a financial 60 institution. 61 (4) 'Person' means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, 62 corporation, nonprofit organization, or other business or legal entity. 63 H. B. 1205 - 3 - 24 LC 55 0157 (5) 'Protected from government interference' means protected by the United States 64 Constitution, the Georgia Constitution, or any state or federal law. 65 (6) 'Social credit score' means any analysis, rating, scoring, list, or tabulation that 66 evaluates any of the following: 67 (A) A person's exercise of religion that is protected from government interference, 68 including, without limitation, all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well 69 as belief and affiliation; 70 (B) A person's speech, expression, or association that is protected from government 71 interference, including, without limitation, a person's opinions, speech, or other 72 expressive activities and the lawful preservation of privacy regarding those activities, 73 such as the refusal to disclose lobbying, political activity, or contributions beyond what 74 is required by applicable state or federal law; 75 (C) A person's failure or refusal to adopt any policy or make any disclosure relating to 76 emissions of greenhouse gases, as defined in Code Section 12-6-221, beyond what is 77 required by applicable state or federal law; 78 (D) A person's failure or refusal to conduct any type of racial, diversity, or gender audit 79 or disclosure or to implement any quota or give any preference or benefit based in 80 whole or in part on race, diversity, or gender; 81 (E) A person's failure or refusal to facilitate or assist employees in obtaining abortions 82 or gender reassignment services; or 83 (F)(i) Except as provided in division (ii) of this subparagraph, a person's participation 84 in any lawful business associations or business activities, including, without 85 limitation, business associations or business activities relating to firearms, 86 ammunition, oil, or natural gas. 87 (ii) For the purpose of this subparagraph only, the term 'social credit score' shall not 88 include a financial institution's evaluation of the quantifiable financial risk of a person 89 based on impartial, financial-risk-based standards concerning the activities described 90 H. B. 1205 - 4 - 24 LC 55 0157 in division (i) of this subparagraph, provided that such standards are established in 91 advance by the financial institution and publicly disclosed to its customers and 92 potential customers. 93 10-1-439.21. 94 (a) A financial institution shall not: 95 (1) Discriminate in the provision of financial services against a person; or 96 (2) Agree, conspire, or coordinate, directly or indirectly, including through any 97 intermediary or third party, with another person or group of persons to engage in activity 98 that is prohibited by paragraph (1) of this subsection. 99 (b)(1) If a financial institution refuses to provide financial services or restricts or 100 terminates the provision of financial services to a person, the person may request from 101 the financial institution a statement of specific reasons for such action within 30 days 102 after receiving notice of such action. 103 (2) A person may make a request for a statement of specific reasons under paragraph (1) 104 of this subsection by submitting the request to a customer service representative or 105 designated account representative of the financial institution by telephone, regular mail, 106 or email. 107 (3) A financial institution shall transmit a statement of specific reasons requested under 108 this subsection by regular mail and email to the requesting person within 14 days of 109 receiving such request. Such statement of specific reasons shall include: 110 (A) A detailed explanation of the basis for refusing to provide financial services or for 111 restricting or terminating the provision of financial services, including a description of 112 any of the person's speech, religious exercise, business activity with a particular 113 industry, or other conduct that was, in whole or in part, the basis of the financial 114 institution's refusal to provide financial services or restriction or termination of financial 115 services; and 116 H. B. 1205 - 5 - 24 LC 55 0157 (B) A copy of the terms of service or other agreement governing the relationship 117 between the financial institution and the person, if any, and a citation to a specific 118 provision of such terms of service or other agreement upon which the financial 119 institution relied in refusing to provide financial services or restricting or terminating 120 the provision of financial services to the person. 121 10-1-439.22. 122 (a) A violation of any provision of this part shall constitute a violation of Part 2 of this 123 article, the 'Fair Business Practices Act of 1975'; provided, however, that enforcement 124 against such violation shall be by public enforcement by the Attorney General and, 125 notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 10-1-399, enforcement through a private 126 action shall only be brought pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section. 127 (b) Any person harmed by a violation of this part may bring an action against the financial 128 institution that committed or is committing such violation to: 129 (1) Recover, for each violation, actual damages caused by such violation or $50,000.00, 130 whichever is greater; provided, however, that, if the trier of fact determines that the 131 violation was wilful, it may increase the award of damages to an amount up to three times 132 the actual damages caused by such violation or $150,000.00, whichever is greater; and 133 (2) Obtain declaratory and injunctive relief." 134 SECTION 4. 135 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. 136 H. 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