Committee adopts substitute to allow Social Security card renewals online while limiting data recipients

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday adopted a committee substitute to House Bill 213, a bill to allow people to apply for or renew Social Security cards online, and advanced the measure out of committee with individual recommendations.

Chair Representative Gray recognized sponsor Representative Jimmy and committee aide Dylan Hitchcock Lopez, who told the panel the substitute narrows data recipients so verification data cannot be conveyed to for‑profit entities and instead is limited to nonprofit, governmental or tribal organizations. "It would not pose a problem because there's actually only one entity that is used to verify this data, and it's a nonprofit," Lopez said.

Representative Vance questioned a clause that allows data to be conveyed to a private entity "only to carry out the provisions of a s 28.15.151(g)," asking why the language does not categorically ban private vendors. Lopez said the wording reflected coordination with a companion measure in the other legislative chamber and confirmation from the Social Security Administration that the change would not frustrate the bill's goal.

A committee member moved to adopt the substitute as the committee's working document; no member objected and the chair recorded that the work order had been adopted. The committee also voted to pass HB 213 out of committee with individual recommendations and an attached fiscal note; the transcript records the action by voice and the chair authorized legislative legal services to make technical and conforming changes.

The committee took a brief at‑ease to sign paperwork after the vote. The measure will move forward to the next steps in the legislative process with the committee's recommended changes.

Next steps: the bill was advanced out of committee with individual recommendations and a fiscal note attached; legislative legal services is authorized to make technical changes.