California Senate Bill SJR25 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: SJR 25AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2016 INTRODUCED BY Senator Wieckowski (Coauthors: Senators Jackson and Leno) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Mark Stone) AUGUST 3, 2016 Relative to mandatory arbitration clauses. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SJR 25, as amended, Wieckowski. Arbitration: class actions. This measure would urge the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue final rules protecting consumers' interests with respect to mandatory arbitration clauses that prohibit class actions. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, Class actions are the only remedy for consumers who cannot afford to seek redress alone but who can band together to stop illegal practices; and WHEREAS, Contract language that bans consumers from joining class actions prevents consumers from exercising strength in numbers and allows corporations to pilfer small amounts of money from millions of individuals who cannot band together to stop that practice; and WHEREAS, Bans against class actions are  substantively unconscionable because they are   often  one-sided  --only consumers bring claims against corporations through class actions, not the other way around;   an   d deprive consumers of their substantive and procedural rights, preventing consumers from bringing claims against corporations;  and WHEREAS, Bans against class actions are  procedurally unconscionable because consumer contracts barring class actions are   found in  "take-it-or-leave-it" contracts that prohibit consumers from negotiating contract terms, effectively leaving consumers to choose between access to modern goods and services and access to justice; and WHEREAS, In the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, Congress authorized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the Bureau) to study mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer contracts and to issue regulations restricting or prohibiting their use if the Bureau found that such regulations would be in the public interest and protect consumers; and WHEREAS, The Bureau found that nearly all contracts containing mandatory arbitration clauses not only barred consumers from participating in future class action lawsuits, but also specified that any resulting arbitration proceeding could only be conducted on an individual, not a class, basis; and WHEREAS, Accordingly, the Bureau has proposed a rule that would prohibit contracts for financial products or services from containing mandatory arbitration clauses barring consumers from filing or participating in a class action relating to the financial product or service; and WHEREAS, This proposed rule is based on a finding that mandatory arbitration clauses are being widely used to prevent consumers from seeking relief from legal violations on a class basis and that consumers rarely seek redress as individuals; and WHEREAS, Class actions deter violations from occurring and redress violations of consumers' rights when they do occur; and WHEREAS, Without class actions, corporations that engage in illegal practices will effectively remain unpunished, undeterred, and unaccountable; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California encourages the Bureau to move forward in issuing final rules, either as proposed or in an amended form that even more stringently protects the right of consumers to pursue justice and relief and deters companies from violating the law; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.