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DEL.ICIO.USBehind the scenes: On the rising cost of credit freezes and funny accounting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Both the House and Senate have now passed legislation to let Georgians who fear ID theft to freeze their credit reports and block distribution of their credit histories.
Both chambers have voted to cap the fee for this service at $3.
But we’re hearing that, in conference committee, an attempt will be made to raise the fee to $5 — with the support of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, and at the urging of Equifax, the credit reporting giant.
The Senate’s opening bid for the cost of a credit freeze — nixed by the House — was $10.
In the House, state Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta) is letting it be known that she’s tinkered with S.B. 300, which is up for a vote Tuesday.
Chambers said new language in the bill would requires all state authorities and the Board of Regents to submit their annual audits to the state auditor, who will check their math.
The audits would be made available via the Internet.
Chambers specifically cited adventures that state Sen. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick) has experienced with the Jekyll Island Authority over its finances. In its 2006 annual report, the Jekyll authority stated it was $210,575 in the red. But the authority actually turned a profit of $1,950,081 that year, according to the state auditor’s office.
The bill would also give the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House the authority to request assistance from the state attorney general when examining spending issues. Right now, only the governor can do that.
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Comments
By Sexy Sid
March 31, 2008 9:14 PM | Link to this
Can they rewind the clock to 2000 and let us vote for Gore.
By Another One
April 1, 2008 8:27 AM | Link to this
Yeah, you guys already did… only 43.2% to Bush’s 55%, Gore got around 300,000 less votes here.
How is this going to help with capping credit freeze charges and open government legislation?
By Mike K.
April 1, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this
Does anyone REALLY think that it costs Equifax $5 to freeze someone’s credit report?