FTC REPORTS Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2672 To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to require an annual plan and a report on elder fraud, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2021 Mr. BILIRAKIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to require an annual plan and a report on elder fraud, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘FTC Robust Elderly 4 Protections and Organizational Requirements to Track 5 Scams Act’’ or the ‘‘FTC REPORTS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2672.IH H2672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2672 IH SEC. 2. ANNUAL PLAN AND REPORT ON ELDER FRAUD RE- 1 QUIRED. 2 (a) AMENDMENT.—The Federal Trade Commission 3 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) is amended by inserting at the 4 end the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 29. ANNUAL PLAN REQUIRED. 6 ‘‘Not later than December 1 of each year, the Com- 7 mission shall publish and submit to the Committees on 8 the Judiciary and Commerce, Science, and Transportation 9 of the Senate and the Committees on the Judiciary and 10 Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 11 a plan for the next calendar year describing the projected 12 activities of the Commission, including each of the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(1) The policy priorities of the Commission 15 and any changes to the previous policy priorities of 16 the Commission. 17 ‘‘(2) Any rulemaking proceedings projected to 18 be commenced, including any such proceedings to 19 amend or repeal a rule. 20 ‘‘(3) Any plans to develop, update, or withdraw 21 guidelines or other non-regulatory guidance docu- 22 ments. 23 ‘‘(4) Any plans to restructure the Commission 24 or establish, alter, or terminate working groups. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2672.IH H2672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2672 IH ‘‘(5) Any planned projects or initiatives of the 1 Commission, including workshops, conferences, and 2 reports, and any proposed withdrawals of or changes 3 to projects or initiatives of the Commission. 4 ‘‘(6) With respect to any activities, or changes 5 to activities, of the Commission (including work- 6 shops, conferences, reports, working groups, guid- 7 ance documents, and rulemaking proceedings) that 8 relate specifically to combating fraud against indi- 9 viduals who are 65 years of age or older, a descrip- 10 tion of how such activities or changes will address 11 such fraud. 12 ‘‘(7) Projected dates and timelines, or changes 13 to projected dates and timelines, associated with any 14 of the required disclosures in this section. 15 ‘‘SEC. 30. REPORT ON ELDER FRAUD REQUIRED. 16 ‘‘Not later than January 31 of each year, the Com- 17 mission shall publish and submit to the Committee on 18 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 19 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 20 of Representatives a report on the Commission’s enforce- 21 ment actions involving allegations of fraud targeting indi- 22 viduals who are 65 years of age or older during the pre- 23 vious calendar year, including each of the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2672.IH H2672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2672 IH ‘‘(1) A brief description of each enforcement ac- 1 tion by the Commission involving allegations of 2 fraud against such individuals. 3 ‘‘(2) The disposition of enforcement actions in- 4 volving allegations of fraud against such individuals, 5 broken down by category. 6 ‘‘(3) The proportion of enforcement actions in- 7 volving allegations of fraud against such individuals 8 as a percentage of all enforcement actions relating 9 to unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affect- 10 ing commerce brought by the Commission.’’. 11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—The amend- 12 ment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date 13 of enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to 14 the first December 1 and January 31, as applicable, occur- 15 ring after such effective date. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2672.IH H2672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS