DALLAS — In what could become a trend, the Texas House of Representatives has passed a law which would codify in law the industry's card data protection standards and which would give card issuers a way of recovering the costs reissuing cards should breach's occur.

Minnesota's House of Representatives has also passed a similar bill last week.

The two leaders of the Texas House Business and Industry Committee, Chairman Helen Giddings and a Democrat and Republican Vice-Chairman Gary Elkins, both played key roles in guiding the legislation through their committee and to its 139-0 victory in the House. Elkins operates a business called the Personal Credit Corporation and Giddings has been a victim of identity theft herself.

“This is a substantial step forward for protecting our seven million Texas credit union members from identity theft,” said Dick Ensweiler, CEO of the Texas Credit Union League, which had backed the bill from the beginning. “Consumers need to be assured that when they swipe their debit or credit card at a register, their entire financial identity does not go with it.”