State & Local Projects
States and cities are critical battlegrounds in the fight for economic justice.
While Washington drags its feet, states and cities are stepping up to ensure a safe and well-regulated economy that works for everyone. In statehouses and city halls across the country, policymakers are passing laws that curb predatory lending, restore power to workers, and expose shadowy industries. They do this by empowering state attorneys general, financial regulators, and city agencies, by ensuring access to the justice system, and by creating rules that put people over profits.
We support these efforts by helping states and cities enact new laws, providing technical assistance as agencies implement and enforce these laws, and training local officials to provide services to their communities.
WHat We’re Doing
Fighting for Student Loan Borrowers
We have helped nearly two dozen states enact Borrower Bill of Rights laws, which enforce strict rules against student loan companies, give borrowers the right to sue when companies break the rules, and create Student Loan Ombudspersons to advocate on borrowers’ behalf. We have helped state and local partners enact laws that address abuses by private student loan companies and student loan debt collectors.
Check out the Borrower Bill of Rights laws below:
| STATE | YEAR | LAW | LINK |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 2017 | Cal Civ Code 1788.100-105 | View Law |
| CO | 2019 | CRS 5-20-100 et seq | View Law |
| CT | 2015 | Sec. 36a-846 et seq. | View Law |
| DC | 2025 | DC Code 31-101 et seq | View Law |
| IL | 2018 | 110 ILCS 992 | View Law |
| KY | 2022 | K.R.S. 286.12 et seq. | View Law |
| LA | 2022 | R.S. 6:1411 et seq. | View Law |
| ME | 2019 | MRS Title 9-A, Art. 14 | View Law |
| MD | 2019 | MD Code, Education, D. IV, T. 26, Subt. 6, Refs & Annos | View Law |
| MA | 2021 | GBL c. 93L | View Law |
| MN | 2021 | Ch. 58B | View Law |
| NV | 2023 | N.R.S. 670B | View Law |
| NJ | 2019 | C.17:16ZZ | View Law |
| NY | 2019 | NY Banking Law Art. 14-A | View Law |
| OK | 2021 | Title 24, Sec. 170 et seq. | View Law |
| OR | 2021 | Ch. 725A | View Law |
| RI | 2019 | R.I. Gen Laws 19-33 | View Law |
| VA | 2020 | Title 6.2, Ch. 26 | View Law |
| WA | 2018 | RCW 31.04.400 et seq. | View Law |
Ending Worker TRAPs
Employers across the country force workers to sign Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (literally known as TRAPs)—then demand thousands of dollars in arbitrary training costs if they quit. Workers across the country face a dilemma: stay or pay? We first shed light on this predatory practice through our groundbreaking report, Trapped at Work, and continue to advocate in statehouses to ban this abusive practice.
Check out TRAP related laws:
State TRAPs Law Tracker
| State | Year | Bill | Status | Summary / Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT | 1985 | Section 31-51r – Execution of employment promissory note prohibited. View Law | Law | This bill prohibits employers from making employees sign a promissory note that states that the employee will reimburse the employer if the employee doesn’t stay at the job for a certain duration of time. It includes reimbursement for training. The bill expands the prohibition to all employers regardless of size whereas the law before only applied to employers who had 26 or more employees. The bill voids any promissory notes that fall in this category, but if included in a broader employment contract, it does not void the entire employment contract. The bill does not prohibit the employer from requiring the employee to pay back money for advances; for any property sold or leased to the employee; requiring compliance with terms for sabbatical leaves for educational professionals; or any agreements entered into by the employer and the employees’ collective bargaining rep. |
| CA | 2020 | AB 2588 View Law | Law | This bill requires the employer to pay for the expenses incurred for employer-required training or educational programs. The bill is narrow as it pertains to hospitals and those employees who provide direct patient care. There is a private right of action allowing injunctive relief, damages, and any other attorneys fees/costs. |
| CO | 2022 | HB 22-1317 View Law | Law | This bill limits the enforceability of TRAPs to narrow circumstances, specifically in which the training provided is clearly distinct from normal, on-the-job training, the employer’s recovery is limited to the reasonable costs of the training and decreases over the course of the two years subsequent to the training proportionately based on the number of months that have passed since the completion of the training, and recovery for the costs of the training would not violate federal law. |
| CA | 2023 | AB 747 View Bill | Bill | This bill prohibits an employer from requiring an employee to pay for a debt if the employee’s work relationship with the employer is terminated. Sec. 3 subdivision (c) allows this if the training-related costs are incurred pursuant to a union-affiliated apprenticeship program, or if the employee has to maintain a professional license required by the state. Interesting, but a good thing about this bill is that it includes independent contractors, which are sometimes left out of the definition of “employee”. |
| CT | 2023 | S.B. No. 21 View Bill | Bill | This bill would prohibit all employers from requiring an employment promissory note as a condition of employment, where the current law only applies to a business who has twenty-six or more employees. |
| ME | 2023 | LD 741 View Bill | Bill | This bill prohibits employers from charging employees with the cost of an employer-provided or required training as it is not a loan, advance, or debt. It does exclude state licenses or other transferable credential that is generally recognized by the relevant industry, which is similar to other bills above. |
| NJ | 2023 | A4960 View Bill | Bill | This bill prohibits an employer from requiring, as a condition of employment, any employee or prospective employee to enter into training repayment agreement. The bill stipulates that any agreement which is a training repayment agreement is void and that no employee is obligated to make payments under that agreement. |
| NY | 2023 | A6819/S6794 View Bill | Bill | This bill prohibits the use of employment promissory notes, and has a great opening public policy statement describing why this is important to have this type of law in place (e.g. free job mobility, employers incurring the costs of trainings they require). |
| PA | 2023 | House Bill 608 View Bill | Bill | This bill prohibits TRAPs explicitly and has a provision that allows a civil penalty of $25,000 per violation of the act. Any subsequent violations are subject to an additional penalty of $25,000 per employee. The bill excludes cash advances, payment for equipment sold or leased to an employee, educational sabbatical leave contracts, or TRAs entered into as part of a collective bargaining agreement. The bill prohibits using TRAPs as a condition of employment, for employees or prospective employees. |
| CO | 2024 | HB24-1324 View Law | Law | The bill grants the attorney general rule-making authority over restrictive employment agreements. |
Ensuring Existing Laws Can Meet The Moment
All states have general consumer protection laws modeled after federal authority that are intended to ensure fair dealing and block practices that take advantage of households. For decades, states and private litigants have used these laws—bans against unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices, or “UDAAPs”—to stop scams, predatory lending, false advertising, and other abuses. These laws are intended to be broadly applicable and flexible enough to address new and emergent issues, but in recent years, they have struggled to keep up. Big Tech is blurring the lines between our financial and everyday lives, and scammers are using social media and AI to target and drain money from vulnerable communities. We are fighting across the country to modernize UDAAP laws and ensure states have the tools they need to protect households and small businesses from tomorrow’s greatest threats.
Holding Schools Accountable
For decades, schools have engaged in abusive debt collection practices against their own students, ranging from withholding critical records to suing students in court. Thanks to our work, more and more states are banning the practice of “transcript withholding” and other abusive debt collection tactics when students owe money to their schools. We are fighting for more transparency into how these debts accrue and the tactics schools use to collect them.
Activating Cities
Working families face financial insecurity in every city, town, and neighborhood across the country, hurting local economies and labor markets. Student debt is driving shortages in critical professions, including teachers, nurses, and other public service workers who make our cities work. Stagnant wages and increased cost of living strain household budgets and increase reliance on credit and debt for everyday expenses—magnifying gaps in wealth and driving inequality.
Protect Borrowers is working with city governments and local partners to address this crisis and empower local leaders to stand up for borrowers in their communities.
By The Numbers
19 state Borrower Bill of Rights
19 states (and counting!), representing 20 million borrowers, have passed Borrower Bill of Rights laws.
1-in-4 students
More than 1-in-4 students live in a state that bans transcript withholding.
VIRGINiA RACIAL DISPARITY
In Virginia, Black and Hispanic students disproportionately owe debts to their schools.
STATE AUTHORITY
States have authority to regulate ALL of the private companies that service federal student loans.