[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6664661,"mediaKeyId","2371490-6cc1bee2ab6eedcf3ce001d9d139de98","parentId",2371490,"title","Minnesota lawmakers, attorney general warn dismantling of CFPB will leave consumers exposed","audioSeconds",1236,"startMs",96000,"endMs",1332000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2371490-6cc1bee2ab6eedcf3ce001d9d139de98&start=96&end=1332","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2371490-6cc1bee2ab6eedcf3ce001d9d139de98/thumbnail_96000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6664661/Minnesota/Minnesota-lawmakers-attorney-general-warn-dismantling-of-CFPB-will-leave-consumers-exposed","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6664661-6afee2c7061ee1aab0fada6634c24ed8/orig.mp4?Expires=1770823391&Signature=dIrflRKBSID5zOttaFUHE2kgXSy4so824Egk3lV0o9nHAEL2FEmHxndLj1o0BFru~Syhr8R5plHgwfPh0i~FtLjRdRoOAZZjoQGaHHTaKqhL6LfNLJt-ixrKwvGZfOjVv4I8MQs5ZSbA2fU80HlXyaKAT3bShePi39kBlrfSrYr-CJbPval-GQG8i9CjJC68-Jq1CzA568AvgGf58PV3~buNEedvXigPK-itFL7slkAFoSY5fX-9qH88gge7uCIS6k9lwoFRoJ-21c9tlVnWD5AtrZ9y3u7Z7DoE-a507dOU8Cm9HneuhvA45HOkhlcmdFbmXTEVPOdNwdmS~RKogw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Minnesota Legislature","date","2025-02-20T20:53:57.27Z","article","Sen. Matt Klein, chair of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, and Attorney General Keith Ellison told a committee hearing that recent actions disabling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) risk removing key protections for Minnesotans who use credit cards, mortgages, student loans, virtual currency and bank accounts.

Klein said the CFPB — an independent federal agency created after the 2008 financial crisis — has “returned $20,000,000,000 for over 200,000,000 Americans.” He and other senators said that a recent effort by the federal administration to halt CFPB operations and by outside actors to access agency systems has left a regulatory gap that state offices cannot fully fill. “We cannot let the fox guard the hen house,” Klein said.

Attorney General Keith Ellison told the committee the CFPB performs supervisory work — including subpoena and discovery authority for large, systemically important banks — that the state lacks. “We just don't have the staff to make up the gap,” Ellison said. He added that without CFPB supervision, some large banks could again operate with effectively less federal oversight, a condition he said contributed to catastrophic failures in the past.

Several senators described concrete consumer protections that depend on federal oversight or CFPB rulemaking. Sen. Liz Bolden, who represents Senate District 25, described Minnesota’s 2024 Minnesota Debt Fairness Act, which she said (and which was discussed at the hearing) prohibits unpaid medical debt from being reported to credit bureaus, stops certain automatic transfers of debt between spouses, requires providers to publish collection practices, bans withholding necessary care solely because of unpaid debt, and expands bankruptcy protections. Bolden said the CFPB’s now-halted national rule barring unpaid medical debt from credit reports would have extended similar protections nationwide. “While the Trump administration is dismantling protections for people across the country, in Minnesota…medical debt cannot be reported against people's credit scores,” she said.

Sen. Judy Seaburger, D-Senate District 41, and Sen. Claire Umu Verbaten, assistant majority leader and sponsor of recent student loan protections, warned that CFPB actions imperil pending federal rules on payday lending, overdraft and late-fee caps, and student loan servicing protections. Seaburger cited a 2023 CFPB enforcement action that recouped more than $53 million for consumers in a scam facilitated by a third-party payment processor. Verbaten said state-level law will remain but that enforcement and data collection from a federal agency are critical for holding servicers and lenders accountable.

Committee members asked whether state offices can scale up to replace CFPB functions. Klein and Ellison agreed that state agencies and the attorney general’s office can pursue complaints and litigation but lack the CFPB’s subpoena powers, supervisory authority over large banks, and staffing capacity to replicate the bureau’s nationwide oversight. “They have supervisory responsibilities to delve into certain practices that we do not have the jurisdiction to do,” Ellison said.

Committee discussion also touched on budget implications: Klein said the committee will watch the governor’s Commerce budget closely and will prioritize consumer protection funding where possible.

The hearing included questions about ongoing litigation where the CFPB had been a co‑plaintiff; Ellison said those cases remain active but that the loss of CFPB staff and capacity “has damaged” the ability to pursue document review and other burdens that the agency had been carrying. He said his office would “do the best we can.”

No formal committee actions or votes were recorded during the CFPB discussion portion of the hearing.

The committee recessed after additional questions and moved on to other items on the agenda.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Press Conference: Outlining the Impact of Eliminating the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau","oneSentenceSummary","Sen. Matt Klein, chair of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, and Attorney General Keith Ellison told a committee hearing that recent actions disabling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) risk removing key protections for Minnesotans who use credit cards, mortgages, student loans, virtual currency and bank accounts.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature MN, Minnesota","taxId",77817,"location","Minnesota","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6664657,"Attorney General says House File 20 transparency bill would undermine investigations and multistate litigation",478,1357000,1835000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2371490-6cc1bee2ab6eedcf3ce001d9d139de98&start=1357&end=1835","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2371490-6cc1bee2ab6eedcf3ce001d9d139de98/thumbnail_1357000.jpg","/articles/6664657/Minnesota/Attorney-General-says-House-File-20-transparency-bill-would-undermine-investigations-and-multistate-litigation","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6664657-efd1800d2560bd345c9ec19c0e13ce00/orig.mp4?Expires=1770823391&Signature=EQVFiNMhmOJPwgiOH--Kfg3QkpdqIjd1ljo9NbvRQxdOuPZj5jAOrZ8H5gCdqRSaJHt9igQcH0mrPUSI0iW7ceaZrvKOf52Ji8jtyflL6rzYEH5pZkBuZ6YN3FLsz8WY3hdB0XIxOZQdQKCOCbPvxDhYXDVF32V6wd9dV6cG4r7vfHcnWFRio-RdHr7SPBeQcq4yudw1b3DLpxIIAkRzmvBIKv2RTtoTeWrHeaRol4iEiqpSeJJFlNja-EXI-px2vUAkH7-1PAVZ7ttw~J~TQ0vOskCyDXvx2U0mteQTdfnuZO2lUMd7tZmXxKFCXbbi7Qa3aVpWj9-lRsXz9hFBEQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Attorney General Keith Ellison told the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee that House File 20 would significantly alter how the attorney general’s office classifies and discloses data, undermining the office’s ability to protect Minnesotans and cooperate with other states in multistate litigation.

Ellison said HF 20’s proposed changes to public data classifications would require disclosure of information the office collects during investigations, including material the attorney general described as confidential trade secrets obtained from corporations, nonprofits and state agencies. “This data includes confidential trade secrets of major multinational corporations that would be required … to be disclosed under HF 20,” Ellison said, adding that such disclosure could threaten business operations and inhibit multistate cooperation.

Ellison cited the practical consequences: if Minnesota’s data practices diverge from other states, other state attorneys general might refuse to share information, reducing the resources available for large multistate cases such as opioid litigation and past consumer‑protection suits. He said Minnesota’s multistate work has returned substantial settlements, noting roughly $565,000,000 brought back to Minnesota in prior litigation efforts.

Ellison told the committee that HF 20 appeared to follow the positions of Energy Policy Advocates, which he characterized as a fossil‑fuel industry group that has litigated against state public interest offices. He said court rulings have supported the attorney general’s current data handling. “The majority in the supreme court said that our the way we handle the data is a legal way to handle the data,” he told the committee.

To illustrate potential harm to individuals, Ellison described a scenario in which a small contractor organized as an LLC to raise poultry could be exposed to retaliation by a larger contracting company if data provided to the attorney general during an investigation were later disclosed to the defendant under HF 20. “This person could be retaliated against,” Ellison said.

Ellison also disputed claims that the attorney general’s office lacks transparency, noting that the office operates as a law firm with attorney‑client and work‑product privileges that other law offices possess.

No formal committee action on HF 20 was taken during the hearing. Ellison took additional questions, including about federal worker layoffs; he said his office had been contacted by some laid‑off federal employees but had not yet completed outreach with them.

Ellison said his office would continue to litigate and cooperate with other states where possible but warned that HF 20 would “desperately hamper” such efforts if enacted.","Attorney General Keith Ellison told the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee that House File 20 (HF 20) would force disclosure of confidential data held by the attorney general's office, threaten cooperation with other states in multistate litigation and could harm business confidentiality and individuals who report wrongdoing.","actionData","errors"]

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Minnesota lawmakers, attorney general warn dismantling of CFPB will leave consumers exposed

Attorney General says House File 20 transparency bill would undermine investigations and multistate litigation