SURE Act
Bill: H.R.2702 | Sponsor: Rep. Mullin, Markwayne (R-OK)
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Statement on Unfairness Reinforcement and Emphasis Act or the SURE Act
This bill provides statutory authority for the factors that the Federal Trade Commission must consider when determining whether a practice causes or is likely to cause a substantial injury to consumers (the factors generally mirror the current policy of the commission).
For example, the commission must consider whether the practice results in monetary harm, unwarranted health or safety risk, and only emotional or subjective harm. Further, to be considered an unfair practice, the net effects (including consideration of the costs for a remedy and the resulting burden on society from making the practice unlawful) must cause injury.
The commission also must consider an economic analysis from the Bureau of Economics.

To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to include requirements for 
     declaring an unlawful act or practice, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Statement on Unfairness 
Reinforcement and Emphasis Act'' or the ``SURE Act''.

SEC. 2. UNLAWFUL ACT OR PRACTICE.

    Section 5(n) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(n)) 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``(n) Unlawful Act or Practice.--
            ``(1) Substantial injury required.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Commission shall have no 
                authority under this section or section 18 to declare 
                unlawful an act or practice on the grounds that such 
                act or practice is unfair unless the act or practice 
                causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to 
                consumers which is not reasonably avoidable by 
                consumers themselves and not outweighed by 
                countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition.
                    ``(B) Substantial injury to consumers.--For 
                purposes of this subsection, an act or practice does 
                not cause and is not likely to cause substantial injury 
                to consumers if the injury or harm resulting from such 
                act or practice is trivial or merely speculative. An 
                injury may be sufficiently substantial if the injury 
                does a small harm to a large number of people. An act 
                or practice may be likely to cause a substantial injury 
                if the act or practice raises a significant risk of 
                concrete harm.
                    ``(C) Considerations required.--In determining 
                whether an act or practice causes or is likely to cause 
                substantial injury to consumers under this subsection, 
                the Commission shall consider the following:
                            ``(i) Whether the act or practice results 
                        in monetary harm.
                            ``(ii) Whether the act or practice results 
                        in unwarranted health or safety risk.
                            ``(iii) Whether the act or practice results 
                        only in emotional or other more subjective 
                        harm.
            ``(2) Net effects of injury required.--
                    ``(A) Considerations required.--An act or practice 
                is not unfair unless the act or practice is injurious 
                in its net effects. In determining whether an act or 
                practice is injurious in its net effects, the 
                Commission shall consider the following:
                            ``(i) The various costs for a remedy, 
                        including the costs to the parties directly 
                        before the Commission.
                            ``(ii) The burdens on society in general in 
                        the form of increased paperwork, increased 
                        regulatory burdens on the flow of information, 
                        reduced incentives to innovation and capital 
                        formation, and other similar matters.
                    ``(B) Consumer decisions.--The Commission may not 
                second-guess the wisdom of particular consumer 
                decisions, but may consider whether the act or practice 
                unreasonably creates or takes advantage of an obstacle 
                to the free exercise of consumer decisionmaking.
            ``(3) Public policy considerations.--In determining whether 
        an act or practice is unfair, the Commission may consider 
        established public policies as evidence to be considered with 
        all other evidence. Such public policy considerations may not 
        serve as a primary basis for such determination.
            ``(4) Economic analysis.--In determining whether an act or 
        practice is unfair, the Commission shall consider an economic 
        analysis from the Bureau of Economics of the Commission with 
        respect to the act or practice.''.
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