Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB949 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R11944 TYPED
2	2	By: Parker S.B. No. 949
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to prohibitions on deceptive and unfair practices related
10	10	to financial institutions discriminating in the provision of
11	11	financial services to consumers and other persons.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Equality in
14	14	Financial Services Act.
15	15	SECTION 2. Subtitle C, Title 5, Business & Commerce Code, is
16	16	amended by adding Chapter 121 to read as follows:
17	17	CHAPTER 121. PROHIBITION ON FINANCIAL SERVICES DISCRIMINATION
18	18	Sec. 121.001. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this chapter:
19	19	(1) "Discriminate in the provision of financial
20	20	services" means utilizing a social credit score to directly or
21	21	indirectly decline to provide full and equal enjoyment in the
22	22	provision of financial services, and includes refusing to provide,
23	23	terminating, or restricting financial services.
24	24	(2) "Financial institution" means
25	25	(A) A bank that has total assets over
26	26	$100,000,000,000; or
27	27	(B) A payment processor, credit card company,
28	28	credit card network, payment network, payment service provider, or
29	29	payment gateway that has processed more than $100,000,000,000 in
30	30	transactions in the last calendar year.
31	31	For purposes of subsections (A) and (B), a
32	32	financial institution includes any affiliate or subsidiary
33	33	company, even if that affiliate or subsidiary is also a financial
34	34	institution.
35	35	(3) "Financial service" means any financial product or
36	36	service offered by a financial institution.
37	37	(4) "Person" means any individual, partnership,
38	38	association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, nonprofit
39	39	organization, or other business or legal entity.
40	40	(5) "Protected from government interference" refers
41	41	to any speech, religious exercise, association, expression, or
42	42	conduct that is protected by the First Amendment other than
43	43	activities that the Supreme Court of the United States has
44	44	expressly held are unprotected as of the date of this legislation,
45	45	such as obscenity, fraud, incitement, true threats, fighting words,
46	46	or defamation.
47	47	(6) "Social credit score" means any analysis, rating,
48	48	scoring, list, or tabulation that evaluates any of the following:
49	49	(A) any person's exercise of religion that is
50	50	protected from government interference by the First Amendment to
51	51	the United States Constitution, article 1, sections 6 and 6-a of
52	52	Texas's Constitution, or federal or state law, including all
53	53	aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief and
54	54	affiliation;
55	55	(B) any person's speech, expression, or
56	56	association that is protected from government interference by the
57	57	First Amendment to the United States Constitution or article 1,
58	58	section 8 of Texas's Constitution, or federal or state law,
59	59	including the person's opinions, speech, or other expressive
60	60	activities, including the lawful preservation of privacy regarding
61	61	those activities, such as the refusal to disclose lobbying,
62	62	political activity, or contributions beyond what is required by
63	63	applicable state and federal law;
64	64	(C) failure or refusal to adopt any targets or
65	65	disclosures related to greenhouse gas emissions beyond what is
66	66	required by applicable state and federal law;
67	67	(D) failure or refusal to conduct any type of
68	68	racial, diversity, or gender audit or disclosure or to provide any
69	69	sort of quota, preference, or benefit based, in whole or in part, on
70	70	race, diversity, or gender;
71	71	(E) failure or refusal to facilitate or assist
72	72	employees in obtaining abortions or gender transition services; or
73	73	(F) except as provided in Subsection (b),
74	74	participation in the following lawful business associations or
75	75	business activities:
76	76	(a) business activity by the person or
77	77	others with firearms, ammunition, or firearms accessories
78	78	manufacturers or dealers; or
79	79	(b) business activity by the person or
80	80	others with an entity that engages in the exploration, production,
81	81	utilization, transportation, sale, or manufacturing of fossil fuel
82	82	sources or fossil-fuel-based energy.
83	83	(b) For the purposes of Subsection (F) only, "social credit
84	84	score" does not include the financial institution evaluating
85	85	quantifiable financial risks of a person based on impartial,
86	86	financial-risk-based standards that includes activities described
87	87	in Subsection (F), if such standards are established in advance by
88	88	the financial institution and publicly disclosed to customers and
89	89	potential customers.
90	90	(c) These definitions shall be construed in favor of the
91	91	broad protection of the conduct, opinions, and beliefs protected by
92	92	the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, applicable
93	93	federal laws, Texas's Constitution, and state law.
94	94	Sec. 121.002. PROHIBITED DISCRIMINATION IN FINANCIAL
95	95	SERVICES; EXPLANATION REQUIRED UPON REQUEST. (a) A financial
96	96	institution shall not:
97	97	(1) discriminate in the provision of financial
98	98	services to a person; or
99	99	(2) agree, conspire, or coordinate, directly or
100	100	indirectly, including through any intermediary or third party, with
101	101	another person, or group of persons, to engage in activity
102	102	prohibited by Subsection (1).
103	103	(b) If a financial institution refuses to provide,
104	104	restricts, or terminates service to a person, that person may
105	105	request a statement of specific reasons within 90 days after
106	106	receiving notice of the refusal to provide, restriction of, or
107	107	termination of service. The person may request the statement from a
108	108	customer service representative or designated account
109	109	representative by phone, U.S. mail, or electronic mail. Unless
110	110	otherwise prohibited by federal law, the financial institution must
111	111	transmit the statement of specific reasons via U.S. Mail and
112	112	electronic mail, if known to the financial institution, within 14
113	113	days of receiving the person's request. The statement of specific
114	114	reasons shall include:
115	115	(1) a detailed explanation of the basis for the denial
116	116	or termination of service, including a description of any of the
117	117	person's speech, religious exercise, business activity with a
118	118	particular industry, or other conduct that was, in whole or in part,
119	119	the basis of the financial institution's denial or termination of
120	120	service;
121	121	(2) a copy of the terms of service agreed to by the
122	122	person and the financial institution; and
123	123	(3) a citation to the specific provisions of the terms
124	124	of service upon which the financial institution relied to refuse to
125	125	provide, restrict, or terminate service.
126	126	Sec. 121.003. ENFORCEMENT. (a) Any violation of this
127	127	chapter shall constitute a violation of Chapter 17, Title 2,
128	128	Business & Commerce Code.
129	129	(b) If the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe
130	130	that any financial institution has engaged in, is engaging in, or is
131	131	about to engage in, any violation of this chapter, the Attorney
132	132	General may investigate as provided in Section 17.60 and 17.61,
133	133	Business & Commerce Code, may bring a civil action as provided in
134	134	Section 17.47, Business & Commerce Code, and may seek remedies as
135	135	provided in Section 17.62, Business & Commerce Code.
136	136	(c) Any person harmed by a violation of this chapter may
137	137	initiate a civil action for either or both of the following:
138	138	(1) to recover actual damages, or $10,000, whichever
139	139	is greater for each violation. If the trier of fact finds that the
140	140	violation was willful, it may increase the damages to an amount of
141	141	up to three times the actual damages sustained, or $30,000,
142	142	whichever is greater. A court shall award a prevailing plaintiff
143	143	reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs.
144	144	(2) To obtain preventive relief, including an
145	145	application for a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining
146	146	order, or other order as is necessary to enforce the requirements of
147	147	this chapter.
148	148	SECTION 3. It is the intent of the legislature that every
149	149	provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
150	150	in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act,
151	151	are severable from each other. If any application of any provision
152	152	in this Act to any person, group of persons, or circumstances is
153	153	found by a court to be invalid, the remaining applications of that
154	154	provision to all other persons and circumstances shall be severed
155	155	and may not be affected. All constitutionally valid applications
156	156	of this Act shall be severed from any applications that a court
157	157	finds to be invalid, leaving the valid applications in force,
158	158	because it is the legislature's intent and priority that the valid
159	159	applications be allowed to stand alone. The legislature further
160	160	declares that it would have passed this Act, and each provision,
161	161	section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word, and all
162	162	constitutional applications of this Act, irrespective of the fact
163	163	that any provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase,
164	164	or word, or applications of this Act, were to be declared
165	165	unconstitutional.
166	166	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.