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Committee advances substitute on subscription renewals; members amend effective date and debate affirmative consent for price increases
Summary
The committee advanced a substitute (LC550558S) to require clearer consumer choices for automatic-renew contracts, to require affirmative consent for multi‑year renewals and possibly for price increases; members amended the bill to move the effective date to Dec. 30, 2025, and agreed to refine language in a future meeting.
A substitute consumer-protection bill aimed at automatic-renewing contracts advanced from the House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee after members approved a time-of-effect amendment and discussed whether companies should obtain affirmative consent for price increases.
Representative Barrett, sponsor of the substitute (LC550558S), said the bill would give consumers an option at the time of sale to have a renewable contract terminate at the end of its initial term rather than automatically renew. “Simply put ... it lets me not have to have the onus on me to come back and remember to go opt out before I get an egregious increase in fees,” Barrett said.
The substitute would also change existing law that currently requires affirmative consent for automatic renewals longer than 24 months; the substitute lowers that threshold to 12 months so affirmative consent would be required for automatic renewals of 12 months or longer. Barrett also described committee language under which a consumer would need to acknowledge and consent if a seller increases pricing on a renewed contract.
Members debated implementation issues for out-of-state companies and the appropriate effective date. Representative Tyler asked how out-of-state vendors would be notified; Barrett replied that firms doing business in Georgia are responsible for complying with state law. Members suggested moving the effective date to give businesses time to update practices. Representative Taylor moved an amendment to set the effective date to Dec. 30, 2025; committee members approved that amendment.
Representatives also discussed whether affirmative consent should be required only for multi-year renewals or also for shorter-term contracts when price increases occur. Several members supported keeping the affirmative-consent provision for price increases; others suggested removing it and addressing the language offline.
The committee approved the substitute as amended and agreed to continue refining language before a final vote on a clean amended text.
