Vermont H 99: An act relating to trade in covered animal parts or products

Bill Text

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H.99 1
Introduced by Representatives Marcotte of Coventry, Bosch of Clarendon, 2
Carris-Duncan of Whitingham, Cooper of Pownal, Duke of 3
Burlington, Graning of Jericho, Micklus of Milton, Olson of 4
Starksboro, Priestley of Bradford, and White of Bethel 5
Referred to Committee on 6
Date: 7
Subject: Commerce and trade; consumer protection 8
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to regulate 9
earned wage access services. 10
An act relating to regulating earned wage access services 11
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 12
Sec. 1. 8 V.S.A. chapter 75 is added to read: 13
CHAPTER 75. EARNED WAGE ACCESS SERVICES 14
§ 2301. DEFINITIONS 15
As used in this chapter: 16
(1)(A) “Biometric data” means data generated from the technological 17
processing of an individual’s unique biological, physical, or physiological 18
characteristics that is linked or reasonably linkable to an individual, including: 19
(i) iris or retina scans; 20

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(ii) fingerprints; 1
(iii) facial or hand mapping, geometry, or templates; 2
(iv) vein patterns; 3
(v) voice prints; and 4
(vi) gait or personally identifying physical movement or patterns. 5
(B) “Biometric data” does not include: 6
(i) a digital or physical photograph; 7
(ii) an audio or video recording; or 8
(iii) any data generated from a digital or physical photograph or 9
from an audio or video recording, unless such data is generated to identify a 10
specific individual. 11
(2) “Consumer” means an individual residing in this State. 12
(3) “Direct-to-consumer provider” means a provider that offers or 13
provides earned wage access services directly to consumers based on the 14
consumer’s representations and the provider’s reasonable determination of the 15
consumer’s earned but unpaid income. 16
(4) “Earned but unpaid income” means salary, wages, compensation, or 17
other income that an obligor owes but has not yet paid to a consumer, as 18
reasonably determined by a provider based on information provided by or on 19
behalf of a consumer or obligor. 20

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(5) “Earned wage access services” means the business of delivering 1
proceeds to consumers prior to the next date on which an obligor is obligated 2
to pay salary, wages, compensation, or other income to a consumer. 3
(6) “Employer-integrated provider” means a provider that offers or 4
provides earned wage access services to a consumer using time and attendance 5
or earnings data for the relevant pay period that is provided directly or 6
indirectly by an obligor or a service provider of the obligor. 7
(7) “Licensee” means a provider who has been issued a license pursuant 8
to this chapter. 9
(8) “Obligor” means a person who is legally obligated to pay salary, 10
wages, compensation, or other income for work that a consumer performs on 11
an hourly, project-based, piecework, or other basis. 12
(9) “Outstanding proceeds” means proceeds transferred to a consumer 13
by a provider and not yet repaid to the provider. 14
(10)(A) “Precise geolocation data” means information derived from 15
technology that can precisely and accurately identify the specific location of a 16
consumer within a radius of 1,850 feet. 17
(B) “Precise geolocation data” does not include: 18
(i) the content of communications; 19
(ii) data generated by or connected to an advanced utility metering 20
infrastructure system; or 21

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(iii) data generated by equipment used by a utility company. 1
(11) “Proceeds” means an amount of funds a provider transfers to a 2
consumer that is based on earned but unpaid income. 3
(12) “Provider” means a person who is in the business of offering and 4
providing earned wage access services to consumers. 5
§ 2302. LICENSE REQUIRED 6
(a) A person shall not provide earned wage access services in this State 7
without first obtaining a license pursuant to this chapter. 8
(b) A person, including a provider’s financial institution as defined in 9
subdivision 10202(5) of this title, but not including a consumer’s financial 10
institution as defined in subdivision 10202(5) of this title or an interbank 11
clearinghouse as defined in 9 V.S.A. § 2481w(a), shall not provide substantial 12
assistance to a provider if the person or the person’s authorized agent receives 13
notice from a regulatory, law enforcement, or similar governmental authority, 14
or knows, or consciously avoids knowing, from its normal monitoring and 15
compliance systems, that the provider is in violation of subsection (a) of this 16
section. 17
(c)(1) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to a financial institution, 18
as that term is defined in subdivision 10202(5) of this title, if the financial 19
institution is authorized by law to accept deposits and the deposits ar