James Staake, founder and CEO of Your American Flag Store, recently testified in front of the Tennessee House Commerce Committee in support of HB 0846, a bill that would prohibit online payment systems from freezing a user’s funds without prior warning.
The bill, according to its text, would “prohibit an online payment system from freezing the funds of a user without first providing the user with a 90-day written notice of the online payment system’s intent to freeze the user’s funds,” designating a violation as an unfair or deceptive act or practice pursuant to the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977.
Staake (pictured above), who has previously had over $110,000 of funds from his businesses withheld by PayPal without warning, said his testimony went “very well” but acknowledged that the bill was “tough” due to lobbyists “pushing back on it.”
“[The lobbyists] hit Nashville last Friday…and they started pushing back on it,” Staake said on Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy.
Staake, noting how the bill was introduced in January of 2023, said it’s sponsor, State Representative Monty Fritts (R-Kingston) is a “fighter” and was willing to work on the bill when no other lawmakers would.
“I think Monty’s a different guy. Monty is a fighter. He is a war hero. I mean, they told us that [the bill] was dead a year ago. We got no action on it. Nobody wanted to touch it. And he’s been fighting for it,” Staake said.
On Tuesday, the bill was deferred to the Commerce Committee’s Summer Study.
While Leahy said Summer Study is “where bills go to die,” all-star panelist Clint Brewer noted that the overall discussion on the bill should be seen as a “triumph.”
“Just getting it heard before the committee, just getting these issues out there that regular folks deal with these massive tech platforms. I mean, I think it’s a win just to have it part of the dialogue,” Brewer said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “James Staake” by Your American Flag Store.
