Regulated Industries Subcommittee 1.29.26
Video Transcript
Duration: 11 minutes
Speakers: 5
That's mic right here. I don't even know if we need a mic.
Okay. It's 08:30.
We have a few stragglers that may be wandering in here shortly. So,
welcome everyone to the regulatory subcommittee of regulated industries.
We have one piece of business before us today,
HP five zero four. I wanna confirm
I've got two copies. I wanna make sure I've got the right version. Working off LC394837S.
Does that sound right?
Great. Okay.
Chairman Monahan,
tell us about the bill. I understand that we,
passed this last year.
Correct? It stalled in rules.
Okay.
Mhmm.
So I've got the is this thing working right here? She's Oh, sorry.
Okay. Yeah. You got me. Alright.
Well, good morning. As you all know, it's a great day to be a Georgian,
and it's a great day to have house bill five zero four.
House bill five zero four,
has to deal with the vehicle value protection plans that are available to Georgia consumers.
This bill passed out last year of the regulated industries committee,
with a just a tinge of concern about maybe,
some needed or wanted
consumer protections. And so what we did was we went back to the drawing board to make sure that all members were satisfied with this piece of legislation.
And we added some,
minor changes on line 50 to 52.
As you'll see, this is a committee substitute,
which strengthen the consumer protections around the disclosure requirements to consumers.
And,
after talking with those that had any concerns with the bill, that has seemed to,
make them very happy,
with those consumer protections.
Just remember that this regulates the vehicle value protection products, which are optional. They are not required.
It does require a clear consumer disclosure,
guarantees a cancellation window,
requires real financial backing so claims get paid when they're supposed to, And it gives the office of consumer protections enforcement power over these types of plans.
And with that,
madam chair, I'll leave it with y'all.
Thank you.
Let's see
here.
A fellow committee member, do you have any questions for for chairman Myhaj this time? Okay. Alright. Thank you for explaining. I think you went into a, a lot more detail last time. I believe it was one member of the
believe
it was one thank you. Very loud. One member of the committee had some issues, and you've spoken with that member. He is good with the changes.
No concerns no concerns at this point. That's correct. So that that that as far as I understand, I have had no concerns with this,
with this piece of legislation and the, of course, increase of consumer protections
that we've added to it. Yeah. Which I think go above and beyond. Right. So it's just even better than it was before.
What we do down here is perfect legislation, and I'm happy to see this get perfected even more. Understood. Do we have anyone present that wants to speak to the bill?
Two by Zoom. We have two by Zoom. Okay. Okay. Thank you. I'm gonna defer to someone far more technologically savvy than I am too.
You're available for questions.
Available for questions. Okay.
See, can we get them to introduce themselves?
Is it I'm sorry. Can you hear me?
We can now. Yes. If you'll introduce yourself, please. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. My name is Travis Moore. I'm general counsel for the Guaranteed Asset Protection Alliance. I wanna just thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning and,
as mentioned here for questions, but I did wanna just, give a little background on the Guaranteed Asset Protection Alliance.
We are a national trade association
representing the nation's leading vehicle financial protection product providers.
That includes, obviously,
companies offering these vehicle value protection agreements.
You can probably tell by the name. It also includes GAP or GAP waiver, which you might be familiar with. That's sort of the namesake product that's been around for a long time.
In fact, Georgia adopted GAPA's model legislation on guaranteed asset protection
over a decade ago.
In recent years, the industry has evolved to,
develop products that better suit consumers who are differently situated maybe than someone who would benefit from a gap waiver.
And this legislation, house bill five zero four, reflects that model. So this is just an expansion
of the model around vehicle financial protection product developed by the trade,
And and we are looking forward to hopefully, passing this bill this year and appreciate your support. And, again, happy to dive into any details or get into the weeds if you'd like, but I wanted to keep it brief this morning, but introduce myself and let you know. Happy to answer any questions.
Thank
you. Thank you very much. Yeah. I don't we tend to wanna stay out of the weeds unless absolutely necessary.
Understood. And then we have we have someone else.
If you'll introduce yourself, please.
Hey. Good morning. My name is Crystal Bullard on behalf I'm here on behalf of Shortfall Cover. Our company provides these type of products to credit unions, banks, and auto dealerships.
We're one of the product providers who offer these vehicle value protection products in
neighboring states like Florida, Alabama,
also Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, and Utah.
So,
our product powered by depreciational protection is one that we hope to offer in Georgia under the definition of vehicle value protection agreements in h b five zero four.
Much like Travis, we,
are here for questions. We work very closely with GAAPA.
It's our desire to have a regulatory framework that allows us to offer these optional products in the state, do so with the guidance and understanding of what needs to be done and how we are going to protect, Georgia consumers. So happy to answer any questions on how this product operates, at least specifically for us and,
in other states.
K. Thank you for that. Do we have any questions from the committee?
Not at this time. I suspect as if this moves forward to full committee, you guys I think you some of you guys are gonna be here in person possibly,
or at least available by Zoom. We might have more questions for you in full committee. But thank you for your time this morning.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
If we have no further questions on this matter, I'll entertain a motion from the committee.
Make a motion to do that. Make a motion. Okay. I will second that motion. All in favor of the passage of HB five zero four, say aye.
All those opposed?
Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, chairman Monheim. A great job.
Okay.
Meeting's adjourned.
K. I tried to turn that mic up, but it didn't wanna go.
Okay.
Thank you, buddy. Appreciate you. Okay.
That's it. That's down to him. Thanks. Thanks for being here. I don't know how to handle that. No. No. Absolutely not.