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HF 1392

Consumer protection restitution account established, report required, and money appropriated.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Peter Fischer and 10 co-sponsors

HF1392 creates a Consumer Protection Restitution Account to distribute recovered enforcement funds as direct payments to eligible consumers harmed by unlawful acts.

Author added Wiener
#commercedepartment #consumerprotection
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Bill Summary · HF 1392

Summary of HF1392 (2025-2026) – Minnesota

Main purpose and intent

HF1392 establishes a dedicated Consumer Protection Restitution Account to collect and distribute money recovered in consumer enforcement actions. The bill aims to ensure that funds recovered by the state in consumer protection matters are used to compensate eligible consumers directly harmed by unlawful acts, while providing a framework for administration, reporting, and long-term management of these funds. It also makes related amendments to state statutes to accommodate this new account and align disposition of recovered funds with restitution goals.

Key provisions and changes

  • Creation of the Consumer Protection Restitution Account (Section 2):

    • Established in the state’s special revenue fund.
    • Money in the account is appropriated annually to the attorney general for purposes defined in the section (distributions to eligible consumers and administration costs).

  • Definitions and governance (Section 2, Subdivisions 2–4, 9):

    • Defines terms: account, account administrator, consumer enforcement action, consumer enforcement public compensation, eligible consumer, final order, and identified unpaid compensation.
    • An account administrator (appointed by the attorney general) may be used for determining unpaid amounts, collecting funds, distributing to consumers, and other administration costs (potentially multiple administrators).

  • Funding and use of funds (Section 2, Subdivisions 3–4):

    • 50% of money recovered in a consumer enforcement action that is payable to the state (not designated for a specific purpose) must go to the restitution account; the other 50% goes to the general fund.
    • The account may be used only to distribute consumer enforcement public compensation to eligible consumers and for account administration costs (capped at 3% of available funds). The AG may pay an administrator from the account if excess funds exist.

  • Distributions to eligible consumers (Section 2, Subdivisions 5–7):

    • Distributions can be made to any eligible consumer with an identified unpaid amount.
    • If funds are insufficient, payments prioritize oldest final-order actions.
    • Provisions for impractical payments or unreasonable efforts to locate/identify unpaid compensation allow the AG to deem certain payments or identifications impractical and halt distributions accordingly.
    • The AG must cease distributions once all identified unpaid amounts are distributed or deemed impractical/unresolvable.

  • Reporting (Section 2, Subdivision 8):

    • Annual online report detailing: actions leading to account deposits, amounts distributed, pending distributions, concluded accounts, impractical/unreasonable determinations, and administration costs.
    • Report due to legislative committee chairs and ranking members.

  • No private right of action (Section 2, Subdivision 10):

    • The statute confirms no private individual right of action arises from account payments or administration.

  • Effect on other collections (Section 2, Subdivision 11):

    • Distributions do not affect the AG’s authority to collect or enforce final orders; later collections resulting from final orders can be deposited back into the account to replenish distributions.

  • Related statutory amendments (Section 3):

    • Modifies 16A.151 to reflect restitution distribution considerations and allows special cases where money recovered in certain settlements or orders can be redirected to specified state funds or accounts, with new language about opioid settlement funds and environmental/other distributions.
    • Clarifies that the consumer protection restitution account is not subject to certain other funds-reallocation provisions.

  • Tax and enforcement interaction (Section 4):

    • Adds a new subdivision to 290.0132 addressing that the amount of consumer enforcement public compensation counts as a subtraction for tax calculations, effective retroactively for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023.

Who is affected

  • Eligible consumers who were directly harmed by unlawful acts and practices in a consumer enforcement action may receive payments from the restitution account.
  • Attorney General and court-appointed administrators responsible for determining unpaid amounts, collecting funds, and distributing payments.
  • State agencies and the general fund through the redistribution of recovered funds (half to the restitution account, half to the general fund).
  • Taxpayers and legislators via annual reporting requirements and potential impacts on state budgeting, particularly related to a new subtraction for consumer enforcement compensation in tax calculations.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Annual reporting on account activity, with public posting and targeted delivery to relevant legislative committees.
  • Distributions follow a priority order based on the oldest final orders when funds are limited.
  • Final orders finalized after July 1, 2023 are included in definitions of final orders for distribution purposes; older cases may be treated differently under the new framework.

Overall, HF1392 creates a structured mechanism to turn consumer-protection recoveries into direct redress for harmed consumers while establishing governance, reporting, and fiscal rules around the new restitution account.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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