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Vermont lawmakers hear DFR briefing on franchising; committee to gather more data before pursuing regulation
Summary
The Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on Jan. 6 heard Department of Financial Regulation Commissioner Kai Samson and policy director Joe Valente describe limited Vermont-specific complaints about franchise agreements, explain two policy pathways (registration or banning specific contract clauses), and recommend collecting more data and inviting the Secretary of State and Attorney General to brief the committee before taking regulatory action.
Members of the Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development heard on Jan. 6 from Kai Samson, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, and Joe Valente, introduced at the hearing as director of policy at EFR, about a department review of franchise–franchisee relationships and possible state responses.
Samson and Valente told the committee the department’s research found very little Vermont-specific data and that many franchise contracts are confidential, limiting the state’s ability to assess harms. "We don't have very much that is specific to Vermont," Valente said, summarizing the report's central limitation. The DFR team relied largely on national materials and a single public contract that surfaced because of federal litigation.
The briefing laid out two main policy paths for the legislature: create a franchisor registration program (14 states currently…
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