Text of ID H 560 (2024)

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session - 2024 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 560 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AN ACT 1 RELATING TO THE EQUALITY IN FINANCIAL SERVICES ACT; AMENDING TITLE 26, IDAHO 2 CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW CHAPTER 38, TITLE 26, IDAHO CODE, TO PRO- 3 VIDE A SHORT TITLE, TO PROVIDE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF TERMINOLOGY, TO DE- 4 FINE TERMS, TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN DISCRIMINATION AND TO REQUIRE A CERTAIN 5 EXPLANATION, AND TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY 6 AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 8 SECTION 1. That Title 26, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby amended 9 by the addition thereto of a NEW CHAPTER, to be known and designated as Chap- 10 ter 38, Title 26, Idaho Code, and to read as follows: 11 CHAPTER 38 12 EQUALITY IN FINANCIAL SERVICES ACT 13 26-3801. SHORT TITLE. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as 14 the "Equality in Financial Services Act." 15 26-3802. CONSTRUCTION OF TERMINOLOGY. The definitions pursuant to 16 section 26-3803, Idaho Code, shall be construed in favor of the broadest 17 protection of the conduct, opinions, and beliefs protected by the first 18 amendment to the United States constitution, the constitution of the state 19 of Idaho, and applicable state and federal law. 20 26-3803. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this chapter: 21 (1) "Discriminate in the provision of financial services" means uti- 22 lizing a social credit score to directly or indirectly decline to provide 23 full and equal enjoyment in the provision of financial services. "Discrimi- 24 nate in the provision of financial services" includes a refusal to provide, 25 termination of, or restriction on financial services. 26 (2)(a) "Financial institution" means: 27 (i) A bank that has total assets over one hundred billion dollars 28 ($100,000,000,000); or 29 (ii) A payment processor, credit card company, credit card net- 30 work, payment network, payment service provider, or payment 31 gateway that has processed more than one hundred billion dollars 32 ($100,000,000,000) in transactions in the last calendar year. 33 (b) "Financial institution" includes any affiliate or subsidiary com- 34 pany even if that company is also a financial institution. 35 (3) "Financial service" means any financial product or service offered 36 by a financial institution. 37 2 (4) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, joint 1 stock company, trust, corporation, nonprofit organization, or other busi- 2 ness or legal entity. 3 (5) "Protected from government interference" refers to any speech, 4 religious exercise, association, expression, or conduct that is protected 5 by the first amendment to the United States constitution other than activ- 6 ities that the supreme court of the United States has expressly held are 7 unprotected as of July 1, 2024, such as obscenity, fraud, incitement, true 8 threats, fighting words, or defamation. 9 (6)(a) "Social credit score" means any analysis, rating, scoring, 10 list, or tabulation that evaluates any of the following: 11 (i) Any person's exercise of religion that is protected from gov- 12 ernment interference by the first amendment to the United States 13 constitution, article I, section 4 of the constitution of the 14 state of Idaho, or federal or state law, including all aspects of 15 religious observance and practice, as well as belief and affilia- 16 tion; 17 (ii) Any person's speech, expression, or association that is pro- 18 tected from government interference by the first amendment to the 19 United States constitution, article I, section 9 of the consti- 20 tution of the state of Idaho, or federal or state law, including 21 the person's opinions, speech, or other expressive activities, 22 including the lawful preservation of privacy regarding those ac- 23 tivities, such as the refusal to disclose lobbying, political 24 activity, or contributions beyond what is required by applicable 25 state and federal law; 26 (iii) Any person's failure or refusal to adopt any targets or dis- 27 closures related to greenhouse gas emissions beyond what is re- 28 quired by applicable law; 29 (iv) Any person's failure or refusal to conduct any type of 30 racial, diversity, or gender audit or disclosure or to provide any 31 sort of quota, preference, or benefit based, in whole or in part, 32 on race, diversity, or gender; 33 (v) Any person's failure or refusal to facilitate or assist em- 34 ployees in obtaining abortions or gender reassignment services; 35 or 36 (vi) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, par- 37 ticipation in the following lawful business associations or busi- 38 ness activities: 39 1. The exploration, production, utilization, transporta- 40 tion, sale, or manufacture of fossil-fuel-based energy; or 41 2. The manufacture, distribution, wholesale, supply, or re- 42 tail of firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition. 43 (b) For the purposes of paragraph (a)(vi) of this subsection only, 44 "social credit score" does not include a financial institution eval- 45 uating quantifiable financial risks of a person based on impartial, 46 financial-risk-based standards that include activities described in 47 paragraph (a)(vi) of this subsection if such standards are established 48 in advance by the financial institution and publicly disclosed to cus- 49 tomers and potential customers. 50 3 26-3804. DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED -- EXPLANATION REQUIRED UPON RE- 1 QUEST. (1) A financial institution shall not discriminate in the provision 2 of financial services to a person. 3 (2) A person shall not agree, conspire, or coordinate, directly or in- 4 directly, including through any intermediary or third party, with another 5 person, or group of persons, to engage in activity prohibited by subsection 6 (1) of this section. 7 (3) If a financial institution refuses to provide, restricts, or ter- 8 minates service to a customer, that customer may request a statement of 9 specific reasons within ninety (90) days after receiving notice of the re- 10 fusal to provide, restriction of, or termination of service. The customer 11 may request the statement from a customer service representative or desig- 12 nated account representative by phone, United States mail, or email. The 13 financial institution shall transmit the statement of specific reasons via 14 United States mail or email within fourteen (14) days of receiving the cus- 15 tomer's request. The statement of specific reasons shall include: 16 (a) A detailed explanation of the basis for the denial or termination of 17 service, including a description of any of the customer's speech, reli- 18 gious exercise, business activity with a particular industry, or other 19 conduct that was, in whole or in part, the basis of the financial insti- 20 tution's denial or termination of service; 21 (b) A copy of the terms of service agreed to by the customer and the fi- 22 nancial institution; and 23 (c) A citation to the specific provisions of the terms of service upon 24 which the financial institution relied to refuse to provide, restrict, 25 or terminate service. 26 26-3805. ENFORCEMENT. (1) A violation of this chapter is a violation 27 of the Idaho consumer protection act, chapter 6, title 48, Idaho Code. 28 (2) The attorney general may undertake any and all actions authorized 29 by the Idaho consumer protection act to investigate and enforce a violation 30 of this chapter. 31 (3) A person harmed by a violation of this chapter may initiate a civil 32 action and may seek remedies pursuant to section 48-608, Idaho Code. 33 SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby 34 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after 35 July 1, 2024. 36