[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8306 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8306
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 7, 2022
Mr. Hudson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
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 ``Federal Infringements Need
Enforcement Act'' or the ``FINE Act''.
SEC. 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)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(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' means the
chief legal officer of a State.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--The Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 227(b)(4)(C), by inserting ``paragraph (5)
or'' after ``recoverable under''; and
(2) in section 504--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) by inserting ``or as otherwise provided
in section 227(b)(5) of this Act'' after
``under section 503(b)(3) of this Act''; and
(ii) by striking ``It shall be'' and
inserting ``Except as provided in section
227(b)(5) of this Act, it shall be''; and
(B) in subsection (b), by inserting after ``such
forfeitures'' the following: ``(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)''.
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