The Consumer Protection & Business Committee reported multiple bills out of committee on Feb. 14, moving a package of consumer-protection and business-related measures to the next legislative step.

The most significant actions included reporting substitute House Bill 1505 (insurance code revisions), substitute House Bill 1530 (merchant transaction fees limited to certain operators after amendment), substitute House Bill 1063 (regulated licensing for earned wage access providers), and substitute House Bill 1080 (lodging fee transparency). The committee adopted and incorporated several amendments before voting to report the bills with a due-pass recommendation.

Why it matters: These votes change the statutes governing how consumers interact with insurance, short-term wage-access products, merchants that pass along card fees, and how lodging providers disclose fees. Several votes also adopted targeted amendments restoring or clarifying consumer protections or narrowing application to particular businesses.

Votes at a glance
- Substitute House Bill 1505 — Insurance code technical revisions, including an adopted amendment (CLOD 3-25) restoring a requirement that health carriers provide coverage for a newborn child at no less than the mother's coverage for at least three weeks. Motion to report with due-pass carried; standing committee announcement: 9 aye, 5 nay, 1 excused.

- Substitute House Bill 1530 — Allows regulated businesses to charge transaction fees for credit-card payments; committee adopted MOLV 5-35 to limit the bill to tow truck operators and later adopted MOLV 5-34 to clarify the fee applies to credit cards and not debit cards. Reported out with due-pass: 13 aye, 1 nay, 1 excused.

- Substitute House Bill 1063 (proposed substitute H-1406.1) — Establishes licensing and regulation for earned-wage-access providers and adds multiple consumer protections (fee caps, prohibition on subscription fees, tipping restrictions, authority for Department of Financial Institutions to suspend licenses for child-support violations, and deposit of fees in the Financial Services Regulation Fund). Reported out with due-pass: 13 aye, 1 nay, 1 excused.

- Substitute House Bill 1080 — Requires lodging accommodations to disclose all fees in advertised and total price before reservation; amendment MOLV 5-37 clarified inclusion of assessment fees by government-created special districts and programs. Reported out with due-pass: 9 aye, 5 nay, 1 excused.

Procedure and amendments
- Several amendments were moved, adopted, or withdrawn on the floor during executive session. Representative Reeves made the primary motions to report multiple bills; Representative Santos moved and secured CLOD 3-25 on HB1505 to restore newborn coverage. Representative Wallen and Representative Donaghy were active in amendments on HB1530 (narrowing scope and clarifying payment definitions).

What the committee did not finalize
- The committee deferred action on some bills listed on the agenda (for example, HB12168 and some items not reached before recess). Several items were discussed at staff briefing length and then deferred for future action.

Speakers (selected, for attribution)
- Megan Mulvihill, staff to the committee (staff briefings). First referenced 00:01:25.
- Peter Clodfelter / Peter Kleyfels, staff to the committee (staff briefings on individual bills). First referenced 00:00:39 and 00:05:58 respectively.
- Representative Reeves (moved multiple motions, sponsor-level remarks). First referenced 00:18:30.
- Representative Santos (sponsored amendment CLOD 3-25 on HB1505). First referenced 00:30:44.

Notes and limitations
- Vote tallies are the standing-committee tallies announced on the record at the meeting. Where the transcript records a roll call, those results are reported exactly as announced (for example, “9 aye, 5 nay, and 1 excused” for HB1505). The article does not infer final floor outcomes; it reports committee-level actions only.

Ending
- The committee recessed for caucus and moved through executive session votes to meet cutoff deadlines. Most reported bills now advance in the legislative process and may be amended further in subsequent steps.