House Rules Committee advances substitutes for HB 397 and HB 529 and approves compensation resolution

The House Rules Committee advanced substitute language for House Bill 397 and House Bill 529 and approved House Resolution 128 during a meeting in which members said the measures were cleaned up or combined to address outstanding concerns.

Chairman Anderson said House Bill 397 was presented to the committee as a single bill combining three separate measures, and that the committee and bill authors sought a consensus version to take to the Senate and to the Senate Ethics Committee so outstanding controversial components could be resolved "before the 2026 election." "House bill 397 passed out of committee as a combination of 3 separate bills trying to address some issues that we felt were necessary to be addressed before the 26 election," Chairman Anderson said.

A committee staff member described House Bill 529 as a cleanup measure to Representative Barrett's original bill on automatic subscription renewals and pointed to a line in the substitute (line 62603) that clarifies an automatic renewal period of one year. "This just makes clear it's for a period of 1 year," the committee staff member said, adding that the substitute contains additional cleanup language to ensure it meets the author's intent to address automatic renewals where consumers lack disclosure or an opportunity to opt out.

Lady Dempsey said House Resolution 128 consolidated five compensation resolutions and tightened language before the measure moves to the floor. "This, again, has the 5 compensation resolutions together that we are trying to pass this year," Lady Dempsey said.

Committee members moved and seconded motions to pass the rule substitutes and the resolution; the meeting record included repeated calls for objections and several confirmations of "it passes" with no opposition recorded in the provided transcript. The committee also set a supplemental calendar that placed multiple bills, including HB 270, HB 397 (rule substitute), HB 471, HB 529 (rule substitute), HB 266, and HB 328, on that calendar.

The meeting record does not include roll-call vote tallies, named movers or seconders for each motion, or specific committee-level amendments beyond the substitute descriptions. Where the transcript records only that items "pass(ed)," the committee's final floor action and any Senate action are not shown in the provided excerpt.

The committee discussion for HB 397 emphasized seeking a compromise package acceptable to the Senate Ethics Committee; the discussion for HB 529 focused on a technical clarification of renewal periods and consumer opt-out; and the resolution was characterized as language tightening ahead of floor consideration. No formal dissent or detailed recorded opposition appears in the excerpt provided.

The committee moved the measures forward to the next stage of the legislative process; further debate, amendments, or votes could occur on the House floor or in the Senate.