North Carolina HB 62: Farmers Protection Act.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 2
HOUSE BILL 62
Committee Substitute Favorable 3/12/25

Short Title: Farmers Protection Act. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
February 6, 2025
*H62-v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ENACT THE FARMERS PROTECTION ACT TO PREVENT 2
DISCRIMINATION IN FINANCING AGAINST FARMERS. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. Article 6 of Chapter 53C of the General Statutes is amended by adding 5
a new section to read: 6
"§ 53C-6-21. Discrimination prohibited. 7
(a) Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section: 8
(1) Agriculture producer. – A person engaged in the growing of crops or livestock 9
production. 10
(2) ESG commitment. – A bank's decision either to join an initiative or 11
organization that has a purpose of promoting any environmental, social, or 12
political goal, or a bank's ongoing commitment to any environmental, social, 13
or political goal. 14
(b) Prohibition. – It is unlawful for a bank to deny, restrict, or cancel its service to an 15
agriculture producer based, in whole or in part, upon the agriculture producer's greenhouse gas 16
emissions, use of fossil-fuel derived fertilizer, or use of fossil-fuel powered machinery. 17
(c) ESG Commitment. – If a bank has any ESG commitment related to agriculture, there 18
is a rebuttable presumption that the bank's denial, restriction, or cancelation of a service to an 19
agriculture producer violates this section. A bank may overcome this rebuttable presumption by 20
demonstrating, through a preponderance of the evidence, that its denial, restriction, or cancelation 21
of a service was based solely on documented financial considerations rather than an ESG 22
commitment. 23
(d) Enforcement. – If a bank violates this section, the Commissioner or agriculture 24
producer may bring a civil action to seek an injunction or civil penalty. A court may assess a civil 25
penalty of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation. The clear proceeds of a civil penalty 26
assessed under this section shall be remitted to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund in 27
accordance with G.S. 115C-457.2." 28
SECTION 2. G.S. 54B-78 reads as rewritten: 29
"§ 54B-78. Prohibited practices. 30
(a) Any A person or association who shall engage that engages in any either of the 31
following acts or practices shall be is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor: 32
(1) Defamation: Making, publishing, disseminating, or circulating, directly or 33
indirectly, or aiding, abetting, or encouraging the making, publishing, 34
disseminating, or circulating of of, any oral, written, or printed statement 35
which that is false regarding the financial condition of any association. 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 62-Second Edition
(2) False information and advertising: Making, publishing, disseminating, or 1
circulating or causing, directly or indirectly, to be made published, 2
disseminated, circulated, or otherwise placed before the public in any 3
publication, media, notice, pamphlet, letter, poster, or any other way, an 4
advertisement, announcement, or statement containing any assertion, 5
representation, or statement with respect to the savings and loan business or 6
with respect to any person in the conduct of the savings and loan business 7
which that is untrue, deceptive, or misleading. 8
(b) The provisions of G.S. 53C-6-21 apply to a State association." 9
SECTION 3. G.S. 54C-64 reads as rewritten: 10
"§ 54C-64. Prohibited practices. 11
(a) A person who that engages in any either of the following acts or practices is guilty of 12
a Class 1 misdemeanor: 13
(1) Defamation: Making, publishing, disseminating, or circulating, directly or 14
indirectly, or aiding, abetting, or encouraging the making, publishing, 15
disseminating, or circulating of of, any oral, written, or printed statement that 16
is false regarding the financial condition of any savings bank. 17
(2) False information and advertising: Making, publishing, disseminating, 18
circulating, or otherwise placing before the public in any publication, media, 19
notice, pamphlet, letter, poster, or any other way, an advertisement, 20
announcement, or statement containing any assertion, representation, or 21
statement with respect to the savings bank business or with respect to any 22
person in the conduct of the savings bank business that is untrue, deceptive, 23
or misleading. 24
(3) Repealed by Session Laws 1997-241, s. 2. 25
(b) The provisions of G.S. 53C-6-21 apply to a State savings bank." 26
SECTION 4. Article 14C of Chapter 54 of the General Statutes is amended by adding 27
a new section to read: 28
"§ 54-109.23. Discrimination prohibited. 29
The provisions of G.S. 53C-6-21 apply to a credit union. The Administrator has the 30
enforcement authority described in G.S. 53C-6-21(d)." 31
SECTION 5. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to acts committed 32
on or after that date. 33