The bill was signed by Gov. Brad Little this week. A model bill was presented to the state legislature by Alliance Defending Freedom, the religious liberty law firm, which helped former UN ambassador Sam Brownback fight back after he was debanked by JP Morgan Chase in 2022. That multinational bank, one of the world’s biggest, closed Brownback’s account for his nonprofit, the National Committee for Religious Freedom.
Lathan Watts, vice president of public affairs at ADF, says Brownback’s case occurred in Tennessee which became the first U.S. state to pass a debanking law.
"Other states are considering it," says Watts. “There's a bill in Texas. I believe there's a bill also in South Carolina and one in West Virginia."
In the case of Idaho, the state’s Constitution Party learned its account had been closed at U.S. Bank.
Like other debanking controversies at JP Morgan Chase and at Bank of America, ADF says U.S. Bank offered no explanation and no notice of what is was doing.
In the case of Brownback, it has since been learned JP Morgan Chase used a "social risk" policy, now removed, to justify closing the account.
Idaho’s new law is called the Transparency in Financial Service Act. When it goes into effect in July, it prohibits any financial institution with $100 billion in assets from canceling accounts for First Amendment-protected rights such as political affiliation, freedom of speech, and religious views.
According to Watts, Idaho banks are required under the new law to explain why an account has been canceled.
“If it turns out that it is for religious beliefs, or political affiliations, or any of these things, then it empowers the attorney general of the state to investigate,” he says.
