NEWBURYPORT - State Rep. Mike Costello tried last year to pass legislation to protect consumers from identity fraud, but couldn't muster enough support in the legislature to pass it into law.

Then came this week's revelation that millions of customers of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls may have had their personal information stolen in a security breach of the computers at parent company TJX, reminding people just how vulnerable they are to the growing issue of identity theft.

Costello, D-Newburyport, and state Sen. Jarrett Barrios, D-Cambridge, resubmitted the legislation this year, and they are feeling optimistic it will pass this time.

"People are realizing that this is a big issue," Costello said. "This TJX thing is only the most recent in a long list of these incidents."

Massachusetts is currently the only state in New England that does not have a law requiring timely disclosure of security breaches, or a law allowing customers to freeze access to their credit. With so many affected by such breaches - even new state Attorney General Martha Coakley had an unauthorized charge on her account recently - the idea of reining in identity theft in the commonwealth is gaining steam.

"I know there are some bills that are pending, and I want to look at the best ways to tackle this," Coakley said.

The bill doesn't deal with information theft, like the breach that took place at TJX, as those are easily canceled with no permanent damage to consumers, Barrios said.

The Barrios/Costello legislation does tackle the problem from several different angles. The bill establishes a legal duty for businesses to protect personal information that companies collect for profit, and it also obligates organizations to notify customers within five days in the event a breach takes place.

According to a press release issued by TJX, the company was aware of the security breach in mid-December but was asked by "law enforcement" to maintain "the confidentiality of this intrusion."

Costello's legislation would also make it easier for people to freeze their credit in the event their personal information has been stolen, protecting them from criminals trying to use that information to open credit lines in their name.

"If security is breached, customers must freeze credit reports at no cost," Costello said. "Right now you can't do it. To freeze your credit costs money and it is a nightmare."

The legislation introduced in the state Senate would also create a law-enforcement task force dedicated to identity fraud issues.

"This kind of crime is very difficult for us to prosecute, because there's so much paperwork involved," Costello said. "We need to give people training and resources to go after it."

However, not everyone is thrilled with the legislation. Banks and credit groups say the new regulations are too onerous, and retailers are also leery.

"We're not opposed to reasonable standards, but you have to strike a balance here," said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. Hurst said his organization wants to limit what sort of security breaches have to be reported and opposes letting consumers freeze their credit for free.

Costello acknowledged he may need to compromise on some points to get his legislation through, but he is confident that this is the year when Massachusetts will tackle identity theft.

"I've spoken to the house leadership, and they are committed to passing identity fraud legislation," Costello said. "Look, this is important. With something like assault and battery, at least you know you got hit, and you usually know who hit you. With identity theft, you usually don't even know you got hit until you've been hit again and again and it's done serious damage to your life. Even then, you often don't even know who did it to you because it's so hard to trace. It's time we did something about this."

The Statehouse News Service contributed to this report.