Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Identity Theft topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House establishes identity‑theft unit in Attorney General's office; expands remit to electronic fraud
Summary
House Bill 95 creates a document-fraud/identity-theft unit in the Attorney General's office with a fiscal note of $275,100 and accepts a sponsor-supported amendment to cover electronic media. The House passed the first substitute unanimously and sent it to the Senate.
Representative Karen Morgan told the House identity theft and document fraud are widespread and that HB95 would create a document-fraud unit in the Attorney General's Office to prosecute identity fraud; she cited a fiscal note of $275,100 to staff the unit with an attorney and an investigator. Morgan said data runs showed large numbers of compromised Social Security numbers and that the problem affects children, the elderly and the deceased.
Representative Harper raised a concern that the original bill was focused on paper records and offered an amendment to include electronic media; Morgan called the amendment "very friendly" and accepted it. Colleagues expressed support, noting negotiations with the Attorney General's office and law-enforcement stakeholders. After amendment and brief discussion, the House passed the first substitute HB95 as amended by a recorded vote of 73 yes, 0 no; the bill will be forwarded to the Senate.
The legislation establishes a dedicated unit and funding; the transcript records the fiscal note and the sponsor's description of prevalence data but does not include implementation timelines or staffing details beyond the two positions described.
