the acts or practices violate a provision of law enforced 
by the Commission. 
‘‘(B) Compliance with any guidelines, general state-
ment of policy, or similar guidance issued by the Commis-
sion may be used as evidence of compliance with the provi-
sion of law under which the guidelines, general statement 
of policy, or guidance was issued. 
‘‘(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to 
confer any authority upon or negate any authority of the 
Commission to issue guidelines, general statements of pol-
icy, or similar guidance.’’. 
SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF INACTIVE INVESTIGATIONS. 
Section 20 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 57b–1) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub-
section (k); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(j) TERMINATION OF INACTIVE INVESTIGATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), a covered investigation shall terminate at 
the expiration of the six-month period beginning on 
the date on which a covered verifiable written com-
munication is sent by the Commission. 
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‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not 
apply if— 
‘‘(A) an additional covered verifiable writ-
ten communication is sent by the Commission 
during the period described in paragraph (1); 
‘‘(B) the Commission votes to extend the 
covered investigation before the expiration of 
such period; or 
‘‘(C) the Commission determines in a vote, 
within 30 days after the expiration of such pe-
riod, that the Commission did not send a cov-
ered verifiable written communication during 
such period because of excusable neglect or a 
circumstance beyond the control of the Commis-
sion that rendered notification during such pe-
riod impossible. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) COVERED INVESTIGATION.—The term 
‘covered investigation’ means an investigation 
conducted pursuant to this section in which the 
Commission has notified the person, partner-
ship, or corporation that is the subject of the 
investigation by verifiable written communica-
tion. 
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‘‘(B) 
COVERED
VERIFIABLE
WRITTEN 
COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘covered verifiable 
written communication’ means a verifiable writ-
ten communication relating to an investigation 
conducted pursuant to this section that is sent 
to the person, partnership, or corporation that 
is the subject of the investigation.’’. 
SEC. 8. NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS. 
The Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 26 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 27. NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 552b of 
title 5, United States Code, a bipartisan majority of Com-
missioners may hold a meeting that is closed to the public 
to discuss official business if— 
‘‘(1) a vote or any other agency action is not 
taken at such meeting; 
‘‘(2) each person present at such meeting is a 
Commissioner or an employee of the Commission; 
and 
‘‘(3) an attorney from the Office of General 
Counsel of the Commission is present at such meet-
ing. 
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‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE 
DISCUSSIONS.—Not later than 2 business days after the 
conclusion of a meeting held under subsection (a), the 
Commission shall publish on its Internet website a disclo-
sure of such meeting, including— 
‘‘(1) a list of the persons who attended such 
meeting; and 
‘‘(2) a summary of the matters discussed at 
such meeting, except for such matters as the Com-
mission determines may be withheld under section 
552b(c) of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(c) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS REQUIRE-
MENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this section 
shall alter or supersede section 552b of title 5, United 
States Code, with respect to any meeting of Commis-
sioners other than a meeting held under subsection (a). 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AGENCY ACTION.—The term ‘agency ac-
tion’ has the meaning given such term in section 
551 of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(2) BIPARTISAN MAJORITY.—The term ‘bipar-
tisan majority’ means, when used with respect to a 
group of Commissioners, that such group— 
‘‘(A) is a group of two or more Commis-
sioners; and 
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‘‘(B) includes, for each political party of 
which any Commissioner is a member, at least 
1 Commissioner who is a member of such polit-
ical party, and, if any Commissioner has no po-
litical party affiliation, at least 1 unaffiliated 
Commissioner.’’. 
SEC. 9. ANNUAL PLAN REQUIRED. 
(a) AMENDMENTS.—The Federal Trade Commission 
Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), as amended by section 8, is 
further amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 28 as section 30; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 27 the following 
new sections: 
‘‘SEC. 28. ANNUAL PLAN REQUIRED. 
‘‘Not later than December 1 of each year, the Com-
mission shall publish and submit to the Committees on 
the Judiciary and Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
of the Senate and the Committees on the Judiciary and 
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 
a plan for the next calendar year describing the projected 
activities of the Commission, including each of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) The policy priorities of the Commission. 
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‘‘(2) Any rulemakings projected to be com-
menced. 
‘‘(3) Any plans to develop guidelines or other 
non-regulatory guidance documents. 
‘‘(4) Any plans to restructure the Commission 
or establish or alter working groups. 
‘‘(5) Any planned projects or initiatives of the 
Commission, including workshops, conferences, and 
reports. 
‘‘(6) With respect to any activities of the Com-
mission, including workshops, conferences, reports, 
working groups, guidance documents, or rulemak-
ings, that relate specifically to combating unfair or 
deceptive acts or practices that target or signifi-
cantly affect individuals who are 65 years of age or 
older, a description of how such activities will ad-
dress such acts or practices. 
‘‘(7) Projected dates and timelines associated 
with any of the required disclosures in this section. 
‘‘SEC. 29. REPORT ON ELDER FRAUD REQUIRED. 
‘‘Not later than January 31 of each year, the Com-
mission shall publish and submit to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 
of Representatives a report on the Commission’s enforce-
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ment actions to address unfair or deceptive acts or prac-
tices that may have targeted or significantly affected indi-
viduals who are 65 years of age or older during the pre-
vious calendar year, including each of the following: 
‘‘(1) A brief description of each such enforce-
ment action. 
‘‘(2) The disposition of such enforcement ac-
tions, broken down by category. 
‘‘(3) The proportion of such enforcement ac-
tions as a percentage of all enforcement actions re-
lating to unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or 
affecting commerce brought by the Commission.’’. 
(b) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 
amendments made by subsection (a) shall be construed to 
limit or restrict the Federal Trade Commission’s activities 
or disclosure of information to the public, consistent with 
applicable law. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—The amend-
ments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date 
of enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to 
the first December 1 and January 31, as applicable, occur-
ring after such effective date. 
Æ 
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