Montpelier, Jan. 15, 2025 — The state’s Attorney General told the Vermont Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee on Wednesday that her office is focusing on multistate consumer-protection lawsuits against social-media platforms and fossil-fuel companies, advancing a data-privacy bill, and expanding office staff to handle complex technology and contractor complaints.

The Attorney General said her office enforces the Consumer Protection Act and operates a Consumer Assistance Program housed at the University of Vermont that mediates complaints, fields scam reports and helps Vermonters recover funds. “We just want the harm to stop,” she said of the social-media litigation, adding those suits allege companies “downplayed the addictive nature and the harm that they are causing with their product, especially to teenage girls.”

Why it matters: The office’s civil enforcement actions can result in statewide settlements, consumer remedies and monetary awards that help fund agency work. Committee members focused on how the office measures return on investment for litigation and asked for clearer data on whether current enforcement and regulatory steps are changing consumer harms.

Key details

- Scope and staffing: The Attorney General described roughly 150 employees in her office, about 100 of them lawyers, and said the consumer unit handles matters ranging from unfair marketplace claims to some antitrust work. She said the Consumer Assistance Program answers thousands of calls each year and is operated in partnership with the University of Vermont.

- Major cases: The office has active multistate cases against social-media companies and separate litigation against fossil-fuel companies for alleged marketplace misrepresentations (commonly called “greenwashing”). She said defendants commonly seek dismissal or removal to federal court; one fossil-fuel case was remanded back to state court less than a year ago. The Attorney General characterized the core allegation in the fossil-fuel suits as misrepresentation that deprived consumers of accurate information needed to make marketplace choices.

- Data privacy: The Attorney General said she and staff have worked on a comprehensive data-privacy proposal since 2020 and that the House Commerce Committee is the expected venue to begin a new bill this year. Her office’s priority is protecting “sensitive data, like biometric data,” which, she said, cannot be replaced if compromised.

- Consumer Assistance and home-improvement complaints: A specialist position in the Consumer Assistance Program focused on home-improvement complaints — Gabriel Taylor Marsh — has helped recover roughly $800,000 for Vermonters in about 18 months, the Attorney General said. That role was originally funded for two years; the office is requesting that the Legislature make the position permanent.

- Request for additional resources: The Attorney General said she will ask the Legislature for an additional assistant attorney general to focus on large technology cases (social media, artificial intelligence and related matters). She said additional staff would allow Vermont to serve as a lead state in multistate litigation, which can increase recoveries (she cited past examples in which lead-state roles produced larger awards).

- Public outreach and scams: The office released a “top 10 scams of 2024” list and urged legislators to share Consumer Assistance Program contact information (1-800-649-2424) with constituents. The Attorney General encouraged committee members to invite Chris Curtis, director of the UVM-based consumer assistance program, to testify about the program’s top complaint categories.

Quotes

“We sued the fossil fuel companies,” the Attorney General said, summarizing one litigation track. “We just want the harm to stop,” she said of the social-media litigation, adding the suits assert companies “downplayed the addictive nature and the harm that they are causing with their product, especially to teenage girls.”

“Gabriel Taylor Marsh has neutrally gotten back to consumers $800,000,” she said of the home-improvement specialist in the Consumer Assistance Program.

What the committee asked for and next steps

Committee members asked the Attorney General’s office to provide clearer measures of program effectiveness and return on investment for litigation and enforcement activities. The office said it recently completed a strategic plan that emphasizes measurement and that it will provide additional materials — including the top five consumer-complaint topics identified by the UVM Consumer Assistance Program — to the committee. The Attorney General said the office will request the budget additions (the permanent home-improvement specialist and an assistant attorney general focused on big tech) in the governor’s budget process.

Ending

Committee members praised the Consumer Assistance Program’s partnership with UVM and scheduled follow-up contacts to receive the unit’s top complaint categories and the Attorney General’s forthcoming budget requests. No committee votes were taken on the requests during the Jan. 15 meeting.