House Appropriations panel advances H.211 to study data-broker deletion mechanism, raises registry fees

The House Appropriations Committee on March 19 advanced H.211, legislation that expands Vermont’s regulation of data brokers, raises registry fees and penalties, and allocates $50,000 for the secretary of state to study the feasibility of a consumer deletion mechanism.

Rick Siegel of the Office of Legislative Counsel told the committee that the bill broadens the definition of data brokers—companies that buy and sell consumer personal information—and adds consumer protections, including a data-broker security breach notice requirement. “The appropriation in the bill is for the secretary of state to conduct a study,” Siegel said, describing the deletion mechanism project the bill would fund.

Under the proposal discussed in committee, annual registration fees for data brokers would increase from about $100 to $900, and per-day penalties for failing to register or for filing materially incorrect information would rise; the bill also would create a $1,000-per-day penalty for material misfiling. Committee materials and staff noted that the bill carves out exemptions for specified uses, such as fraud checks and credit reporting.

The fiscal note cited in the meeting reports roughly 283 currently registered data brokers in Vermont; committee staff said raising the fee to $900 could produce about a quarter-million dollars in annual revenue while the bill requests $50,000 in FY2027 to pay a consultant for the study.

Committee members asked why the secretary of state’s office administers the registry; counsel said the original registry has been housed with the business services division of the secretary of state since the 2018 law was enacted, while other agencies would handle aspects such as security-breach regulation when applicable.

After brief discussion, the panel moved to approve H.211 as reported; members recorded affirmative responses during roll call, and the chair thanked witnesses and staff. The committee said it will circulate an updated draft for further public review before the next substantive discussion.

Votes at a glance Motion: Approve H.211 as amended (reported to committee). Outcome: Approved by the committee (recorded affirmative responses during roll call). Recorded 'yes' responses during the roll call included: Representative Rashid; Representative Michael; Representative Steven; Representative Jacoboni.

Next steps: The committee will distribute an updated draft and reconvene publicly once copies are available.