SB57: SB57 "Freedom of Speech and Belief Act"; enact

25 LC 62 0129S The Senate Committee on Judiciary offered the following substitute to SB 57: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 15 of Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Co de of Georgia Annotated,1 relating to deceptive or unfair practices, so as to protect the exercise of constitutional rights;2 to prohibit discrimination in the provision of essential servic es; to provide for public and3 private enforcement; to provide for definitions; to provide a short title; to provide legislative4 findings and declarations; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for5 other purposes.6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:7 SECTION 1.8 This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Freedom of Speech and Belief Act."9 SECTION 2.10 The General Assembly finds and declares that:11 (1) The freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights are fundamental to our nation;12 (2) Among such rights is the freedom of association, which bus inesses and citizens of13 this state may ordinarily exercise in choosing to engage or not to engage in business with14 others;15 - 1 - 25 LC 62 0129S (3) However, when the exercise of this freedom of association by businesses that provide16 essential goods and services would threaten the ability of citizens of this state to freely17 exercise their own constitutional rights, it is imperative that the General Assembly act to18 ensure that the spirit and intent of the Bill of Rights is resp ected and that the freedoms19 protected therein are preserved for the citizens of this state;20 (4) The ability to obtain financial and utility services is essential to the citizens of this21 state and to modern day life;22 (5) Today, citizens of this state are at risk of being deprived the ability to obtain financial23 and utility services due to such citizens' lawful exercise of their constitutional rights;24 (6) Depriving citizens of this state financial and utility services would put such citizens25 at an extreme disadvantage in carrying out the duties of daily life and would deprive such26 citizens of the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and27 (7) It is, therefore, incumbent on the General Assembly to pre serve the ability of the28 citizens of this state to obtain financial and utility services by prohibiting financial29 institutions and utility service providers from depriving such citizens the provision of30 such services based on such citizens' lawful exercise of their constitutional rights.31 SECTION 3.32 Article 15 of Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Geo rgia Annotated, relating to33 deceptive or unfair practices, is amended by adding a new part to read as follows:34 "Part 1035 10-1-439.20.36 As used in this part, the term:37 (1) 'Discriminate in the provision of essential services' mean s, directly or indirectly,38 restricting or terminating the provision of essential services to a person based on such39 - 2 - 25 LC 62 0129S person's social credit score or such person's exercise of any constitutional right protected40 by the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, including, without41 limitation, such person's speech, association, religious exercise, or ownership of firearms.42 (2) 'Essential services' means financial services or utility services.43 (3) 'Essential services provider' means a financial institutio n or a utility services44 provider.45 (4) 'Established business relationship' means an open account or other existing agreement46 for the provision of essential services.47 (5) 'Financial institution' means:48 (A) A bank or credit union that has more than $1 billion in assets and any affiliate or49 subsidiary of such a bank or credit union; or50 (B) A payment processor, credit card company, credit card network, payment network,51 payment service provider, or payment gateway that has processed more than $1 billion52 in transactions in the most recent calendar year and any affiliate or subsidiary of such53 an entity.54 (6) 'Financial services' means any financial product or servic e offered by a financial55 institution.56 (7) 'Person' means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust,57 corporation, nonprofit organization, or other business or legal entity.58 (8) 'Social credit score' means a score or rating determined by an analysis or evaluation59 of one or more the following:60 (A) A person's exercise of any constitutional right protected by the first ten61 amendments to the United States Constitution, including, without limitation, a person's62 speech, association, religious exercise, or ownership of firearms;63 (B) A person's failure or refusal to adopt any policy or make any disclosure relating to64 emissions of greenhouse gases, as defined in Code Section 12-6-221, beyond what is65 required by applicable state or federal law;66 - 3 - 25 LC 62 0129S (C) A person's failure or refusal to conduct any type of racial, diversity, or gender audit67 or disclosure or to implement any quota or give any preference or benefit based in68 whole or in part on race, diversity, or gender;69 (D) A person's failure or refusal to facilitate or assist employees in obtaining abortions70 or gender reassignment services; or71 (E)(i) Except as provided in division (ii) of this subparagraph, a person's participation72 in any lawful business associations or business activities, inc luding, without73 limitation, business associations or business activities relati ng to firearms,74 ammunition, oil, or natural gas.75 (ii) For the purpose of this subparagraph only, the term 'social credit score' shall not76 include a financial institution's evaluation of the quantifiable financial risk of a person77 based on impartial, financial risk based standards concerning the activities described78 in division (i) of this subparagraph, provided that such standa rds are established in79 advance by the financial institution and publicly disclosed to its customers and80 potential customers. Nothing in this division shall:81 (I) Require the public disclosure of any information relating to investigations that82 is prohibited from being publicly disclosed under applicable federal laws, including,83 but not limited to, the federal Bank Secrecy Act, the federal R ight to Financial84 Privacy Act, and the federal USA PATRIOT Act; provided, however, that any court85 of competent jurisdiction may review such information in camera if permitted under86 applicable law; or87 (II) Limit or restrict the protections afforded under Code Section 7-1-360.88 (9) 'Utility services' means, as it relates to this Code section herein, one or more of the89 following services:90 (A) Electric services;91 (B) Water and sewer services;92 (C) Natural gas services; and93 - 4 - 25 LC 62 0129S (D) Broadband services.94 (10) 'Utility services provider' means any private business en tity or enterprise that95 provides utility services to retail customers.96 10-1-439.21.97 An essential services provider shall not:98 (1) Discriminate in the provision of essential services agains t a person that has an99 established business relationship with such essential services provider; or100 (2) Agree, conspire, or coordinate, directly or indirectly, in cluding through any101 intermediary or third party, with another person or group of persons to engage in activity102 that is prohibited by paragraph (1) of this Code section.103 10-1-439.22.104 (a) A violation of any provision of this part shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or105 practice under, and shall be subject to the provisions of, Part 2 of this article, the 'Fair106 Business Practices Act of 1975'; provided, however, that enforcement against a violation107 of this part through a private action shall only be brought pursuant to subsection (b) of this108 Code section.109 (b) Any person harmed by a violation of this part may bring an action against the essential110 services provider that committed or is committing such violation to:111 (1) Recover, for each violation, actual damages caused by such violation or $50,000.00,112 whichever is greater; provided, however, that, if the trier of fact determines that the113 violation was willful, it may increase the award of damages to an amount up to three114 times the actual damages caused by such violation or $150,000.00, whichever is greater;115 (2) Obtain declaratory and injunctive relief; and116 (3) Recover any costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred in bringing such action."117 - 5 - 25 LC 62 0129S SECTION 4.118 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.119 - 6 -