Attorney general outlines consumer-protection priorities to House Commerce & Economic Development committee

The attorney general told the Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on Jan. 15 that the attorney general’s office is focused this year on consumer protection, data privacy, enforcement against online sellers of vaping products, and on building capacity to pursue cases against large technology companies and AI-related harms.

The briefing, delivered to the committee by the attorney general and staff, explained the office’s structure (about 150 employees and roughly 100 lawyers), described the Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) hosted at the University of Vermont, and outlined recent and proposed enforcement priorities and staffing requests. The attorney general asked lawmakers to consider making the home‑improvement specialist position permanent and adding an assistant attorney general dedicated to technology and AI matters.

The attorney general said the consumer unit relies primarily on Vermont’s Consumer Protection Act and is responsible for cases and investigations ranging from antitrust work to debt-collection practices. “The Consumer Protection Act essentially says you can't misrepresent in the marketplace. It's that simple,” the attorney general said, summarizing the statute's practical effect in consumer litigation and enforcement.

The attorney general described CAP as a long‑running partnership with the University of Vermont that combines student clinic work with full‑time staff to mediate complaints, do outreach and collect scam reports. The office receives data‑breach notifications under a state reporting law and reported receiving more than one breach notification per day. For consumer help the attorney general provided CAP’s public number: 1‑800‑649‑2424.

Staff highlighted several specialized roles inside the consumer unit: Emily McDonough McDonald serves as the small business advocate to help businesses that are consumers under Vermont law; Gabriel Taylor Marsh is the home‑improvement specialist, a position created by the legislature and funded for two years that the attorney general asked be made permanent. The attorney general said Marsh has recouped about $800,000 for consumers since joining the program roughly 18 months ago.

The attorney general reviewed recent enforcement examples: Vermont’s use of the Consumer Protection Act in the 1990s tobacco litigation that now yields roughly $20 million annually to the state; more recent suits against fossil fuel companies for alleged greenwashing; litigation involving social‑media companies and data practices; and a multistate data‑privacy settlement involving Blackbaud that produced materially larger recovery for Vermont than for some neighboring states (the attorney general cited an example of roughly $3 million to Vermont versus roughly $100,000 to New Hampshire in a prior matter).

On data privacy, the attorney general recalled last year’s committee work on a biometric and data‑privacy bill that passed the legislature but was vetoed by the governor and for which the senate did not override the veto. The office told members it will continue negotiating with the governor’s office and businesses to craft a bill that can win broad support.

Scams and emerging technology were a major focus. The attorney general said the office maintains a scam‑alert system and publishes a “top 10” scams list; staff post alerts on social media and sometimes record short videos to increase public trust. The office also flagged AI‑enabled scams and deepfakes as a growing problem: the attorney general described a recent deepfake scam that impersonated a public figure to solicit payments as an example of how cheaply and quickly bad actors can now create convincing material.

The committee also discussed enforcement of Vermont’s ban on online sales of tobacco and vaping products. The attorney general said investigators work with the Department of Liquor and Lottery to identify violations and that the office recently reached a settlement with Amazon over protections for third‑party sellers of vaping products.

The attorney general asked the committee to consider two staffing priorities this session: (1) converting the home‑improvement specialist position to a permanent role within CAP (the position has been funded for two years), and (2) adding an assistant attorney general with subject‑matter expertise in large technology and AI issues to give Vermont capacity to lead multistate actions. The attorney general argued that taking lead roles in multistate litigation can yield larger settlements and stronger injunctions than joining as a junior partner.

The office offered to provide materials to the committee, including a press release with the top 10 scams of 2024 and contact information for CAP. Todd Delos, the attorney general’s newly created director of legislative policy, was named as the point of contact for follow‑up with the committee.

Members asked questions about defining “big tech,” data‑privacy impacts on small businesses, AI regulation and the scale of restitution from multistate settlements. The attorney general recommended continued committee engagement on data privacy and technology issues and offered to connect members with outside experts and judiciary working groups on artificial intelligence.

The meeting closed with the attorney general encouraging committee members to send CAP tips and leads for online vaping sales or other violations to the office for investigation.