House Economic Matters advances consumer-refund bill, clears multiple measures in voting session

The House Economic Matters Committee voted Wednesday to advance a bill that would require merchants to refund consumers for return-shipping costs when a merchant ships the wrong item, and it moved a slate of additional bills forward during a recorded voting session.

The consumer-refund measure (House Bill 194) would require a merchant to reimburse a consumer’s return-shipping cost within 30 days after the consumer’s request when an incorrect item was shipped. Committee members discussed whether the measure duplicates protections in the state’s Consumer Protection Act and whether tax or administrative fees tied to deliveries would also be refunded; committee counsel described the bill’s intent as creating a direct, merchant-facing remedy instead of requiring consumers to pursue the Attorney General’s office. Committee members also raised the criminal-penalty language in the underlying consumer-protection statute and said that the possible maximum penalty — cited in the session as up to one year in jail under current law — prompted concern and a desire to consider changes in a future bill.

Beyond HB 194, the committee advanced several largely…