Pink Tax Repeal Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3853 To prohibit the pricing of consumer products and services that are substan- tially similar if such products or services are priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whose use the products are intended or marketed or for whom the services are performed or offered. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2021 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. EVANS, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. TITUS, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi- nois, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. BEYER, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. JACK- SON LEE, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. SOTO, Mr. REED, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. CHU, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. HAYES, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALO- NEY of New York, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. RYAN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. POCAN, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. LIEU, Ms. MENG, Mr. HARDER of California, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. CARSON, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Ms. DEAN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce A BILL To prohibit the pricing of consumer products and services that are substantially similar if such products or services are priced differently based on the gender of the individ- uals for whose use the products are intended or marketed or for whom the services are performed or offered. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3853.IH H3853 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3853 IH 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 ‘‘Pink Tax Repeal Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON GENDER-BASED PRICING OF CON- 5 SUMER PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. 6 (a) PROHIBITED PRACTICES.— 7 (1) CONSUMER PRODUCTS.—It shall be unlaw- 8 ful for any person to sell or offer for sale in inter- 9 state commerce any two consumer products from the 10 same manufacturer that are substantially similar if 11 such products are priced differently based on the 12 gender of the individuals for whose use the products 13 are intended or marketed. 14 (2) SERVICES.—It shall be unlawful for any 15 person to sell or offer for sale any services that are 16 substantially similar if such services are priced dif- 17 ferently based on the gender of the individuals for 18 which the services are performed, offered, or mar- 19 keted. 20 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION.— 21 (1) UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRAC- 22 TICE.—A violation of subsection (a) shall be treated 23 as a violation of a rule prescribed under section 24 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3853.IH H3853 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3853 IH (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) defining an unfair or de- 1 ceptive act or practice in or affecting interstate com- 2 merce. 3 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.—The Fed- 4 eral Trade Commission shall enforce this section in 5 the same manner, by the same means, and with the 6 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 7 applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 8 Commission Act were incorporated into and made a 9 part of this Act. 10 (3) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any person 11 who violates subsection (a) shall be subject to the 12 penalties and entitled to the privileges and immuni- 13 ties provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act 14 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 15 (4) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 16 section shall be construed to limit the authority of 17 the Commission under any other provision of law. 18 (c) STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.— 19 (1) CIVIL ACTION.—In any case in which the 20 attorney general of a State has reason to believe 21 that an interest of the residents of the State has 22 been or is adversely affected by a violation of sub- 23 section (a), the attorney general may, as parens 24 patriae, bring a civil action on behalf of the resi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3853.IH H3853 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3853 IH dents of the State in an appropriate district court of 1 the United States— 2 (A) to enjoin further violation of such sub- 3 section by the defendant; 4 (B) to compel compliance with such sub- 5 section; or 6 (C) obtain damages, restitution, or other 7 compensation on behalf of residents of the 8 State. 9 (2) NOTICE TO THE COMMISSION.— 10 (A) NOTICE.—Except as provided in sub- 11 paragraph (C), the attorney general of a State 12 shall notify the Commission in writing that the 13 attorney general intends to bring a civil action 14 under paragraph (1) not later than 10 days be- 15 fore initiating the civil action. 16 (B) CONTENTS.—The notice required by 17 subparagraph (A) shall include a copy of the 18 complaint to be filed to initiate such civil ac- 19 tion. 20 (C) EXCEPTION.—If it is not feasible for 21 the attorney general of a State to provide the 22 notice required by subparagraph (A), the attor- 23 ney general shall notify the Commission imme- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3853.IH H3853 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3853 IH diately upon instituting a civil action under 1 paragraph (1). 2 (3) INTERVENTION BY THE COMMISSION.—The 3 Commission may— 4 (A) intervene in any civil action brought by 5 the attorney general of a State under this sub- 6 section; and 7 (B) upon intervening, be heard on all mat- 8 ters arising in such civil action and file peti- 9 tions for appeal of a decision in such action. 10 (4) INVESTIGATORY POWERS.—Nothing in this 11 subsection may be construed to prevent the attorney 12 general of a State from exercising the powers con- 13 ferred on the attorney general by the laws of the 14 State to conduct investigations, to administer oaths 15 or affirmations, or to compel the attendance of wit- 16 nesses or the production of documentary or other 17 evidence. 18 (5) PREEMPTIVE ACTION BY THE COMMIS- 19 SION.—If the Commission institutes a civil action or 20 an administrative action for a violation of this sec- 21 tion, the attorney general of a State may not, during 22 the pendency of such action, bring a civil action 23 under this subsection against any defendant named 24 in the complaint of the Commission for the violation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3853.IH H3853 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3853 IH with respect to which the Commission instituted 1 such action. 2 (6) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any civil 4 action brought by an attorney general under 5 paragraph (1), any other consumer protection 6 officer of a State who is authorized by the State 7 to do so may bring a civil action under para- 8 graph (1), subject to the same requirements 9 and limitations that apply under this subsection 10 to civil actions brought by an attorney general. 11 (B) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this 12 subsection may be construed to prohibit an au- 13 thorized official of a State from initiating or 14 continuing any proceeding in a court of the 15 State for a violation of any civil or criminal law 16 of the State. 17 (d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 18 (1) SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR PRODUCTS.—For 19 purposes of this section, two consumer products are 20 substantially similar if there are no substantial dif- 21 ferences in the materials used in the product, the in- 22 tended use of the product, and the functional design 23 and features of the product. A difference in coloring 24 among any consumer products shall not be con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3853.IH H3853 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3853 IH strued as a substantial difference for purposes of 1 this paragraph. 2 (2) SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR SERVICES.—For 3 purposes of this section, two services are substan- 4 tially similar if there is no substantial difference in 5 the amount of time to provide the services, the dif- 6 ficulty in providing the services, or the cost of pro- 7 viding the services. 8 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 10 means the Federal Trade Commission. 11 (2) CONSUMER PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘con- 12 sumer product’’— 13 (A) has the meaning given such term in 14 section 3 of the Consumer Product Safety Act 15 (15 U.S.C. 2052); 16 (B) includes a device or cosmetics, as such 17 terms are defined in section 201 of the Federal 18 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 19 321); and 20 (C) includes a child restraint system, as 21 such term is defined in section 571.213 of title 22 49, Code of Federal Regulations. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3853.IH H3853 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS