House Commerce Committee reports favorably on Commerce amendment to DFR bill H.648

Legislative Council presented a Commerce 'strike-all' amendment to DFR bill H.648 and the House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development voted to report the amendment favorably on Jan. 16, 2026.

Maria Royal, Legislative Council, walked the committee through the draft amendment, noting that she had incorporated the committee's requested changes and highlighted edits including replacement of several instances of "oath" with "affirmation," clarifying language about a commissioner's denial of license renewal, tightening punctuation in an information-gathering clause, and broadening a definition by replacing "financial institution" with "person." She also noted minor, non-substantive corrections and standardized wording across sections. Royal said she had shared the draft with the department and that a department representative (Joe) indicated the changes looked acceptable.

Following the presentation, the chair entertained a motion to report favorably on the Commerce amendment (draft 1.2). Representative Duke moved to report favorably; Representative Bosch seconded. The acting clerk called the roll: Representatives Bosch, Boog, Cooper, Duke, Micklece, Olsen, Whitebooks, Rainey and Markoff recorded "Yes"; Representative Priestley was recorded as absent. The motion passed and the committee reported H.648, Commerce amendment, favorably to the next stage.

The committee record shows the amendment focused largely on wording clarifications and alignment across sections rather than on new policy authorizations. The committee did not record additional debate on policy impacts during the vote; staff indicated the department had reviewed the draft and raised no objections on the record.

Next steps: having been reported favorably by the committee, the amended H.648 will proceed in the legislative process for subsequent consideration and any additional floor action.