Committee advances bill to protect cash users for essential purchases; amends scope and penalties

The Economic Matters Committee voted to move House Bill 191 favorable as amended after a debate over how narrowly to limit the bill’s protections for people who rely on cash.

Miss Locklear, the subcommittee chair, described the measure as “a much-needed bill to address people who use cash for their everyday expenses,” saying the final draft narrows coverage to merchants selling essential goods — ‘‘your food, your gas, grocery types of things’’ — and reduces penalties from the original version.

Committee members asked whether the bill would affect common transactions such as hotel security deposits and whether the change in penalty levels would trigger review by the Office of the Attorney General. Miss Locklear said those items (hotel security deposits and other nonessential categories) had been removed in amendment language and that the bill now targets only essential-commodity sellers and retailers that meet the bill’s definition of an essential merchant.

Delegate Queen,…