Text of GA SB 341 (2025)

25 LC 55 0603 Senate Bill 341 By: Senators Tillery of the 19th, Dolezal of the 27th, Hatchett of the 50th, Bearden of the 30th, Moore of the 53rd 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 protect the exercise of constitutional rights; 2 to prohibit discrimination in the provision of essential services; to provide for public and 3 private enforcement; to provide for definitions; to provide a short title; to provide legislative 4 findings and declarations; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for 5 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 "Freedom of Speech and Belief Act." 9 SECTION 2. 10 The General Assembly finds and declares that: 11 (1) The freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights are fundamental to our nation; 12 (2) Among such rights is the freedom of association, which businesses and citizens of 13 this state may ordinarily exercise in choosing to engage or not to engage in business with 14 others; 15 S. B. 341 - 1 - 25 LC 55 0603 (3) However, when the exercise of this freedom of association by businesses that provide 16 essential goods and services would threaten the ability of citizens of this state to freely 17 exercise their own constitutional rights, it is imperative that the General Assembly act to 18 ensure that the spirit and intent of the Bill of Rights is respected and that the freedoms 19 protected therein are preserved for the citizens of this state; 20 (4) The ability to obtain financial and utility services is essential to the citizens of this 21 state and to modern day life; 22 (5) Today, citizens of this state are at risk of being deprived the ability to obtain financial 23 and utility services due to such citizens' lawful exercise of their constitutional rights; 24 (6) Depriving citizens of this state financial and utility services would put such citizens 25 at an extreme disadvantage in carrying out the duties of daily life and would deprive such 26 citizens of the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and 27 (7) It is, therefore, incumbent on the General Assembly to preserve the ability of the 28 citizens of this state to obtain financial and utility services by prohibiting financial 29 institutions and utility service providers from depriving such citizens the provision of 30 such services based on such citizens' lawful exercise of their constitutional rights. 31 SECTION 3. 32 The General Assembly further finds and declares that: 33 (1) Legislation containing similar provisions of this Act was introduced in the Senate 34 during the 2025 regular session of the General Assembly, which was assigned Senate 35 Bill 57 as its bill number; 36 (2) On March 6, 2025, such legislation failed to achieve the requisite votes to pass the 37 Senate due, in part, to concerns that instances of discrimination by financial institutions 38 and other essential service providers are rare and that passage of such legislation could 39 result in frivolous litigation; 40 S. B. 341 - 2 - 25 LC 55 0603 (3) On March, 7, 2025, organizations affiliated with President Donald J. Trump filed suit 41 against Capitol One, N.A. alleging that Capitol One debanked such organizations by 42 terminating hundreds of accounts such organizations held with Capitol One without 43 warning and due to such organization's political affiliations, causing significant business 44 interruptions and considerable financial harm; 45 (4) On or about March 10, 2025, JPMorgan Chase, in response to credible allegations 46 that the company has engaged in debanking practices against its customers, updated its 47 code of conduct to protect its customers against future instances of political and religious 48 discrimination; and 49 (5) Such recent events, together with other instances of discrimination by financial 50 institutions, further demonstrate that the citizens of this state are at risk of being denied 51 essential services based on their constitutionally protected affiliations and activities and 52 that legislation is needed to protect the citizens of this state against such forms of 53 discrimination. 54 SECTION 4. 55 Article 15 of Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to 56 deceptive or unfair practices, is amended in Code Section 10-1-397, relating to cease and 57 desist orders, civil penalties, judicial relief, and receivers, by adding a new subsection to read 58 as follows: 59 "(g)(1) In any action brought pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of this Code 60 section for a violation of Part 10 of this article, the court may, notwithstanding 61 subparagraph (B) of said paragraph, impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000.00 for the 62 first violation, up to $50,000.00 for a second violation, and up to $250,000.00 for a third 63 or subsequent violation and any such action may be brought without providing the notice 64 required under subsection (c) of this Code section. 65 S. B. 341 - 3 - 25 LC 55 0603 (2) If, after investigating a potential violation of Part 10 of this article, the Attorney 66 General elects to not issue an order under paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Code 67 section or bring an action pursuant to paragraph (2) of said subsection, the Attorney 68 General shall prepare a report providing the reasons for not issuing such order or bringing 69 such action and shall publish such report on the Department of Law's public website. 70 (3) Whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe that any financial institution 71 is violating or has violated Part 10 of this article, the Attorney General shall, in addition 72 to taking other actions required or authorized under this part, refer such financial 73 institution to the Department of Banking and Finance for investigation of any potential 74 violations of Title 7 or the rules and regulations of the department arising from such 75 violation of Part 10 of this article." 76 SECTION 5. 77 Said article is further amended by adding a new part to read as follows: 78 "Part 10 79 10-1-439.20. 80 As used in this part, the term: 81 (1) 'Discriminate in the provision of essential services' means, directly or indirectly, 82 restricting or terminating the provision of essential services to a person based on such 83 person's social credit score or such person's exercise of any constitutional right protected 84 by the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, including, without 85 limitation, such person's speech, association, religious exercise, or ownership of firearms. 86 (2) 'Essential services' means financial services or utility services. 87 (3) 'Essential services provider' means a financial institution or a utility services 88 provider. 89 S. B. 341 - 4 - 25 LC 55 0603 (4) 'Established business relationship' means an open account or other existing agreement 90 for the provision of essential services. 91 (5) 'Financial institution' means: 92 (A) A bank or credit union that has more than $2 billion in assets and any affiliate or 93 subsidiary of such a bank or credit union; or 94 (B) A payment processor, credit card company, credit card network, payment network, 95 payment service provider, or payment gateway that has processed more than $2 billion 96 in transactions in the most recent calendar year and any affiliate or subsidiary of such 97 an entity. 98 (6) 'Financial services' means any financial product or service offered by a financial 99 institution. 100 (7) 'Person' means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, 101 corporation, nonprofit organization, or other business or legal entity. 102 (8) 'Social credit score' means a score or rating determined by an analysis or evaluation 103 of one or more the following: 104 (A) A person's exercise of any constitutional right protected by the first ten 105 amendments to the United States Constitution, including, without limitation, a person's 106 speech, association, religious exercise, or ownership of firearms; 107 (B) A person's failure or refusal to adopt any policy or make any disclosure relating to 108 emissions of greenhouse gases, as defined in Code Section 12-6-221, beyond what is 109 required by applicable state or federal law; 110 (C) A person's failure or refusal to conduct any type of racial, diversity, or gender audit 111 or disclosure or to implement any quota or give any preference or benefit based in 112 whole or in part on race, diversity, or gender; 113 (D) A person's failure or refusal to facilitate or assist employees in obtaining abortions 114 or gender reassignment services; or 115 S. B. 341 - 5 - 25 LC 55 0603 (E)(i) Except as provided in division (ii) of this subparagraph, a person's participation 116 in any lawful business associations or business activities, including, without 117 limitation, business associations or business activities relating to firearms, 118 ammunition, oil, or natural gas. 119 (ii) For the purpose of this subparagraph only, the term 'social credit score' shall not 120 include a financial institution's evaluation of the quantifiable financial risk of a person 121 based on impartial, financial risk based standards concerning the activities described 122 in division (i) of this subparagraph, provided that such standards are established in 123 advance by the financial institution and publicly disclosed to its customers and 124 potential customers. Nothing in this division shall: 125 (I) Require the public disclosure of any information relating to investigations that 126 is prohibited from being publicly disclosed under applicable federal laws, including, 127 but not limited to, the federal Bank Secrecy Act, the federal Right to Financial 128 Privacy Act, and the federal USA PATRIOT Act; provided, however, that any court 129 of competent jurisdiction may review such information in camera if permitted under 130 applicable law; or 131 (II) Limit or restrict the protections afforded under Code Section 7-1-360. 132 (9) 'Utility services' means, as it relates to this Code section herein, one or more of the 133 following services: 134 (A) Electric services; 135 (B) Water and sewer services; 136 (C) Natural gas services; and 137 (D) Broadband services. 138 (10) 'Utility services provider' means any private business entity or enterprise that 139 provides utility services to retail customers. 140 S. B. 341 - 6 - 25 LC 55 0603 10-1-439.21. 141 An essential services provider shall not: 142 (1) Discriminate in the provision of essential services against a person that has an 143 established business relationship with such essential services provider; or 144 (2) Agree, conspire, or coordinate, directly or indirectly, including through any 145 intermediary or third party, with another person or group of persons to engage in activity 146 that is prohibited by paragraph (1) of this Code section. 147 10-1-439.22. 148 (a) A violation of any provision of this part shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or 149 practice under, and shall be subject to the provisions of, Part 2 of this article, the 'Fair 150 Business Practices Act of 1975'; provided, however, that enforcement against a violation 151 of this part through a private action shall only be brought pursuant to subsection (b) of this 152 Code section. 153 (b)(1) Any person harmed by a violation of this part may bring an action against the 154 essential services provider that committed or is committing such violation to: 155 (A) Recover, for each violation, actual damages caused by such violation 156 or $50,000.00, whichever is greater; provided, however, that, if the trier of fact 157 determines that the violation was willful, it may increase the award of damages to an 158 amount up to three times the actual damages caused by such violation or $150,000.00, 159 whichever is greater; 160 (B) Obtain declaratory and injunctive relief; and 161 (C) Recover any costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred in bringing such action. 162 (2) No action shall be brought under this Code section concerning a violation of this part 163 unless such violation has first been referred to the Attorney General for investigation and 164 at least one of the following has occurred: 165 S. B. 341 - 7 - 25 LC 55 0603 (A) The Attorney General has issued an order pursuant to paragraph (1) of 166 subsection (b) of Code Section 10-1-397 concerning such violation; 167 (B) The Attorney General has initiated an action in a superior court of competent 168 jurisdiction pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of Code Section 10-1-397 169 concerning such violation; 170 (C) The Attorney General, pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (g) of Code 171 Section 10-1-397, has prepared and filed a report providing the reasons for not issuing 172 an order or bringing an action under said Code section concerning such violation, which 173 shall be admissible in any action brought pursuant to this Code section; or 174 (D) Six months have elapsed since such violation was referred to the Attorney General 175 for investigation." 176 SECTION 6. 177 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. 178 S. B. 341 - 8 -