Montpelier — House Speaker Mitzi Johnson announced on Thursday a series of data security hearings to be held across the state in the wake of the Equifax breach earlier this year.

The public hearings will be hosted by the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on Nov. 9 in Springfield, Vt., and Barton, Vt., and Nov. 14 in Manchester, Vt., and Burlington. The Springfield hearing is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in the town offices at 96 Main St.

The hearings will give the public an opportunity to learn about the current law relating to security breaches and to share their own experiences.

The hearings were scheduled after the personal and financial data of more than one-third of Vermonters was accessed, according to Johnson.

“The breach included birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers, and some driver’s license and credit card information of up to a quarter-million Vermonters. That’s a third of us,” said Johnson, D-South Hero, speaking at a news conference on Thursday.

Equifax is under investigation by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office for its failure to report the breach as required by state law. State statute requires that suspected data breaches be reported to the attorney general within 14 days and to the consumer within 45 days. Equifax said it first became aware of the data breach, which affected over 140 million Americans, at the end of July — but it did not notify the state until Sept. 7.

“It’s preposterous it would take so long to do that,” said Johnson, who added that it was the “No. 1 priority” of the Vermont House to protect Vermonters’ information from being stolen.

Johnson said dysfunction in Washington meant that agencies like Equifax would “get away with little more than a slap on the wrist” unless the state stepped in. “We have to hold them accountable here in Vermont,” Johnson said.

Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden, told reporters he had drafted a bill that would give the state more power to hold credit reporting agencies accountable for damages resulting from a data security breach.

“Consumers will have a private right of action where they will get their damages for their time and expense and their attorneys fees,” Sirotkin said.

Equifax initially required people whose data had been breached to pay a $10 fee to freeze their credit report, a step that makes it more difficult for thieves to open new accounts under stolen identities. Equifax has since waived the fees through Nov. 21 in response to public backlash.

“I was appalled to hear that Equifax and others were going to possibly charge consumers to fix the problem that they had caused and profit from the misconduct that they committed,” said Sirotkin, whose bill also would prohibit credit reporting agencies from charging fees to “fix the problem” when the problem is caused by the agency’s misconduct.