I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 819 To protect the public from the harmful consequences of the Federal Govern- ment shutdown by prohibiting certain actions, to provide enforcement for such prohibition by the Federal Trade Commission, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2019 Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself and Mr. GALLEGO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To protect the public from the harmful consequences of the Federal Government shutdown by prohibiting certain actions, to provide enforcement for such prohibition by the Federal Trade Commission, 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 ‘‘Protecting Families 4 from Government Shutdowns Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ACTIONS PROHIBITED DURING A FEDERAL GOV- 6 ERNMENT SHUTDOWN. 7 (a) CONDUCT PROHIBITED.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H819.IH H819 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 819 IH (1) RELIANCE ON GOVERNMENT SERVICE.—It 1 shall be unlawful for an entity to do any of the fol- 2 lowing with respect to a person if that person is un- 3 able to meet an obligation because of Government 4 service is not available during a lapse in appropria- 5 tions: 6 (A) Debt collection. 7 (B) Collect interest on loans accrued dur- 8 ing the lapse. 9 (C) Eviction. 10 (D) Foreclosure. 11 (E) Acceleration or downgrading of credit. 12 (F) Require any other obligation required 13 by law or contract that relies on a Government 14 service not available during a lapse in appro- 15 priations. 16 (2) SERVICE CONTRACTS.—It shall be unlawful 17 for an entity to enforce any penalty provision in a 18 contract for services that is violated as the result of 19 a lapse in appropriations and services being stopped. 20 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COM- 21 MISSION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A violation of subsection (a) 23 shall be treated as an unfair and deceptive act or 24 practice in violation of a regulation issued under sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H819.IH H819 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 819 IH tion 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission 1 Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 2 (2) PROMULGATION OF RULE.—Not later than 3 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 4 Federal Trade Commission shall, in accordance with 5 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, promul- 6 gate rules to prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act 7 or practice, the conduct described in subsection (a). 8 A violation of such rules shall be treated as a viola- 9 tion of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or 10 practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 11 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 12 The Commission shall enforce such rules in the same 13 manner, by the same means, and with the same ju- 14 risdiction, powers, and duties as though all applica- 15 ble terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Com- 16 mission Act were incorporated into and made a part 17 of this Act. Any person who violates this Act shall 18 be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privi- 19 leges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 20 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 21 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 22 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to paragraph 23 (2), in any case in which the attorney general of a 24 State has reason to believe that an interest of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H819.IH H819 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 819 IH residents of the State has been or is threatened or 1 adversely affected by a violation of subsection (a), 2 the attorney general of the State may, as parens 3 patriae, bring a civil action on behalf of the resi- 4 dents of the State in an appropriate district court of 5 the United States to obtain appropriate relief. 6 (2) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS- 7 SION.— 8 (A) NOTICE TO FTC.— 9 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 10 in clause (iii), the attorney general of a 11 State shall notify the Federal Trade Com- 12 mission in writing that the attorney gen- 13 eral intends to bring a civil action under 14 paragraph (1) before initiating the civil ac- 15 tion against a person for a violation of 16 subsection (a). 17 (ii) CONTENTS.—The notification re- 18 quired by clause (i) with respect to a civil 19 action shall include a copy of the complaint 20 to be filed to initiate the civil action. 21 (iii) EXCEPTION.—If it is not feasible 22 for the attorney general of a State to pro- 23 vide the notification required by clause (i) 24 before initiating a civil action under para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H819.IH H819 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 819 IH graph (1), the attorney general shall notify 1 the Commission immediately upon insti- 2 tuting the civil action. 3 (B) INTERVENTION BY THE FTC.—The 4 Federal Trade Commission may— 5 (i) intervene in any civil action 6 brought by the attorney general of a State 7 under paragraph (1); and 8 (ii) upon intervening, be heard on all 9 matters arising in the civil action, and file 10 petitions for appeal of a decision in the 11 civil action. 12 (3) PENDING ACTION BY THE FEDERAL TRADE 13 COMMISSION.—If the Federal Trade Commission in- 14 stitutes a civil action or an administrative action 15 with respect to a violation of subsection (a), the at- 16 torney general of a State may not, during the pend- 17 ency of such action, bring a civil action under para- 18 graph (1) against any defendant named in the com- 19 plaint of the Commission for the violation with re- 20 spect to which the Commission instituted such ac- 21 tion. 22 (d) PROHIBITION ON ENFORCEMENT OF AGENCY 23 PENALTIES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H819.IH H819 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 819 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may not enforce 1 any agency penalty (including for a loan, an applica- 2 tion deadline, or other deadline) for a violation that 3 was the result of a lapse in appropriations for that 4 agency. An agency shall extend any such deadline to 5 expire 30 days after the date on which there is no 6 longer a lapse in such appropriations. This prohibi- 7 tion does not create any private right of action. 8 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Any agency that enforced 9 a penalty during the period beginning one year be- 10 fore the date of the enactment of this Act and end- 11 ing on the date of the enactment of this Act shall 12 reverse and nullify any such enforcement to the 13 greatest extent possible. 14 (e) AGENCY GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days 15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of 16 each agency shall issue guidance on how that agency— 17 (1) will not enforce any penalties occurring as 18 a result of a lapse in appropriations for that agency, 19 including financial, administrative, and any deadline 20 missed; and 21 (2) will notify the public about the guidance 22 issued pursuant to this subsection. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H819.IH H819 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 819 IH (f) AGENCY DEFINED.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 1 meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 2 States Code. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H819.IH H819 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS