FINE Act

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit State attorneys general to recover forfeiture penalties determined by the Federal Communications Commission for certain violations of section 227(b) of such Act, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Federal Infringements Need Enforcement Act FINE Act 2. Recovery by State attorneys general of certain forfeiture penalties determined by FCC (a) In general Section 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 227(b) (5) Recovery by State attorneys general of forfeiture penalties for violations with intent (A) Civil action In any case in which a State attorney general has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of such State has been adversely affected by a violation described in paragraph (4)(B) for which the Commission has determined a forfeiture penalty under such paragraph, the State attorney general may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of such State exclusively in a district court of the United States of appropriate jurisdiction to recover any unpaid amount of such forfeiture penalty. (B) Deposit of funds in Treasury; retention of costs (i) Deposit Except as provided in clause (ii), a State attorney general shall, not later than 30 days after recovering any funds in a civil action under subparagraph (A), deposit such funds in the general fund of the Treasury of the United States for the sole purpose of deficit reduction. (ii) Retention A State attorney general who recovers any funds in a civil action under subparagraph (A) may retain an amount of such funds equal to the amount of costs incurred by the State attorney general in bringing such action. (C) Consolidation of actions brought by two or more State attorneys general (i) In general Except as provided in clause (ii), whenever a civil action under subparagraph (A) is pending and another civil action or actions are filed under such subparagraph in a different district court or courts of the United States that involve one or more common questions of fact, a defendant in such actions may elect for all such actions (or, if the Attorney General of the United States has intervened in two or more such actions under subparagraph (D), the Attorney General of the United States may elect for all such actions in which the Attorney General of the United States has intervened) to be transferred for the purposes of consolidated pretrial proceedings and trial to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. (ii) Exception An action described in clause (i) may not be transferred under such clause if pretrial proceedings in such action have been concluded before a subsequent action described in such clause is filed by a State attorney general. Nothing in this clause may be construed to prohibit the transfer of any other action described in clause (i). (D) Notice to and intervention by Attorney General of the United States (i) Notice A State attorney general shall provide prior written notice of any civil action under subparagraph (A) to the Attorney General of the United States and provide the Attorney General of the United States a copy of the complaint of the State attorney general in such action, except in any case in which such prior notice is not feasible, in which case the State attorney general shall serve such notice immediately upon filing such action. (ii) Right to intervene The Attorney General of the United States shall have the right to intervene in a civil action filed by a State attorney general under subparagraph (A). (iii) Effect of intervention (I) In general If the Attorney General of the United States intervenes in an action filed by a State attorney general under subparagraph (A), the Attorney General of the United States shall have the primary responsibility for prosecuting the action, and shall not be bound by an act of the State attorney general. The State attorney general shall have the right to continue as a party to the action, subject to the limitations set forth in subclauses (II) through (IV). (II) Dismissal The Attorney General of the United States may dismiss the action notwithstanding the objections of the State attorney general if the State attorney general has been notified by the Attorney General of the United States of the filing of the motion and the court has provided the State attorney general with an opportunity for a hearing on the motion. (III) Limitation of participation on showing by Attorney General of the United States Upon a showing by the Attorney General of the United States that unrestricted participation during the course of the litigation by the State attorney general would interfere with or unduly delay the prosecution of the case by the Attorney General of the United States, or would be repetitious, irrelevant, or for purposes of harassment, the court may, in its discretion, impose limitations on the participation by the State attorney general, such as— (aa) limiting the number of witnesses the State attorney general may call; (bb) limiting the length of the testimony of such witnesses; (cc) limiting the cross-examination of witnesses by the State attorney general; or (dd) otherwise limiting the participation by the State attorney general in the litigation. (IV) Limitation of participation on showing by defendant Upon a showing by the defendant that unrestricted participation during the course of the litigation by the State attorney general would be for purposes of harassment or would cause the defendant undue burden or unnecessary expense, the court may limit the participation by the State attorney general in the litigation. (E) Relationship between Federal and State actions (i) No Federal action after State action filed After a civil action under subparagraph (A) has been filed by a State attorney general, the Attorney General of the United States may not bring a separate action under section 504(a) to recover the same forfeiture penalty against a defendant named in the civil action filed by the State attorney general. (ii) No State action after Federal action filed or intervention by Attorney General of the United States If the Attorney General of the United States has filed a civil action under section 504(a) to recover a forfeiture penalty determined under paragraph (4)(B), a State attorney general may not bring a civil action under subparagraph (A) to recover the same forfeiture penalty against a defendant named in the action filed by the Attorney General of the United States. If the Attorney General of the United States has intervened in a civil action brought by a State attorney general under subparagraph (A) to recover a forfeiture penalty determined under paragraph (4)(B), no additional State attorney general may bring a civil action under such subparagraph to recover the same forfeiture penalty against a defendant named in the civil action intervened in by the Attorney General of the United States. (F) Trial de novo Any action by a State attorney general under subparagraph (A) shall be a trial de novo. (G) Notice by Commission to State attorneys general Not later than 60 days after determining a forfeiture penalty under paragraph (4)(B), the Commission shall provide notice of such forfeiture penalty to relevant (as determined by the Commission) State attorneys general. (H) Rule of construction For purposes of bringing a civil action under subparagraph (A), nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent a State attorney general from exercising the powers conferred on the State attorney general by the laws of such State to— (i) conduct investigations; (ii) administer oaths or affirmations; or (iii) compel attendance of witnesses or the production of documentary and other evidence. (I) State attorney general defined In this paragraph, the term State attorney general . (b) Conforming amendments The Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 151 et seq. (1) in section 227(b)(4)(C), by inserting paragraph (5) or recoverable under (2) in section 504— (A) in subsection (a)— (i) by inserting or as otherwise provided in section 227(b)(5) of this Act under section 503(b)(3) of this Act (ii) by striking It shall be Except as provided in section 227(b)(5) of this Act, it shall be (B) in subsection (b), by inserting after such forfeitures (or, in the case of a suit instituted by a State attorney general under section 227(b)(5) of this Act, the State attorney general, and the Attorney General of the United States if the Attorney General of the United States has intervened in such suit, upon request of the Commission, shall take such actions as are necessary to discontinue such suit)

Summary: Federal Infringements Need Enforcement Act or the FINE Act This bill allows a state attorney general to recover unpaid penalties imposed by the Federal Communications Commission for illegal robocalls and other violations of restrictions on the use of automated telephone equipment.