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Senate advances credit-report security-freeze bill after amendment to enactment date
Summary
The Utah Senate advanced a first-substitute of SB 39, letting consumers place a security freeze on credit reports and requiring a PIN to lift it; senators approved an amendment moving the effective date earlier than originally proposed and voted to read the bill for a third time.
Senator Walker moved the first-substitute of Senate Bill 39, a measure that would let consumers place a security freeze on their credit reports and require a personal identification number to lift that freeze. Walker said the bill is intended to allow proactive consumer protection against identity theft rather than waiting for victims to obtain police records.
Walker told colleagues the substitute allows credit bureaus to charge a reasonable fee and to issue PINs so that “only the consumer can remove the freeze.” He described the measure as aimed at preventing identity thieves from obtaining instant credit in another person’s name. “This is like locking the cage door after the rabbit is out,” Walker said to illustrate limitations of existing, reactive remedies.
Senator Hicklin and others urged a faster implementation timeline than the sponsor’s original 18-month enactment date, arguing that credit bureaus can implement changes more quickly and an extended delay disadvantages citizens. Walker accepted an amendment to change the effective date to Jan. 1, 2006 (a compromise between immediate enactment and the originally proposed delay). The sponsor credited Richard Hamp of the attorney general’s office and the attorney general’s task force on identity theft for assisting with drafting.
After brief additional comments and no recorded floor opposition, the Senate adopted the substitute and voted to read SB 39 for the third time (tally recorded in the session: 26 yes, 0 nay, 3 absent). The bill will proceed according to Senate procedure for third-reading consideration.
What happens next: With the substitute adopted and the third-reading motion carried, the bill will appear on the Senate’s third-reading calendar for final floor action.
