From Overcriminalized.com:
Table of Contents
New:
H.R. 1050: Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2011
H.R. 964: Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act
H.R. 950: Ticket Act
S. 523:
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H.R. 1050: Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2011
Sponsor: Johnson (R - TX)
Official Title: To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to improve access and choice for entrepreneurs with small businesses with respect to medical care for their employees.
Status:
3/11/2011: Introduced in House
3/11/2011: Referred to House Education and the Workforce Committee
Commentary: This bill is nearly identical to H.R. 2607 in the 111th Congress, which Representative Johnson also introduced. Like H.R. 2607, H.R. 1050 would allow businesses and other organizations to offer their employees or members health insurance coverage through new mechanisms known as "association health plans." In conjunction with this framework, H.R. 1050 creates a new criminal offense that would punish individuals or entities for willfully misrepresenting any other kind of health insurance plan or arrangement as an association health plan. Violations of this provision would be punishable by criminal sanctions of up to five years imprisonment, fines under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, or both.
H.R. 964: Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act
Sponsor: Bishop (D - NY)
Official Title: To protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and other fuels, and for other purposes.
Status:
3/9/2011: Introduced in House
3/9/2011: Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
Commentary: This bill, nearly identical to H.R. 2129 in the 111th Congress, would criminalize certain fuel sales during presidentially declared "energy emergencies" based on the amorphous and subjective civil-law standard of unconscionability. Retail and wholesale fuel sellers could be criminally punished if the federal government determines - based on a post-hoc analysis of the market - that the fuel price was "unconscionably excessive." H.R. 964 specifically prohibits the sale of gasoline or any other petroleum distillate "during a period of an international crisis affecting the oil markets" at a price that is "unconscionably excessive ... and [that] indicates that the seller is taking unfair advantage of the circumstances related to an international crisis to increase prices unreasonably." Violations of this prohibition would be treated as violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. § 41 et al.) and would be punishable by civil penalties and criminal fines of up to $500 million under Title 18 of the U.S. Code. Unlike H.R. 2129, which differentiated between corporate and individual violators for the purposes of criminal punishment, H.R. 964 subjects corporations and individuals to the same maximum criminal sanction. H.R. 964's criminal provisions do not authorize imprisonment for violators, however.
H.R. 950: Ticket Act
Sponsor: Matheson (D - UT)
Official Title: To prohibit restrictions on the resale of event tickets sold in interstate commerce as an unfair or deceptive act or practice.
Status:
3/8/2011: Introduced in House
3/8/2011: Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
Commentary: This bill seeks to override state and local prohibitions on the resale of event tickets by subjecting them to the requirements of the unfair and deceptive trade practices provisions of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act (15 U.S.C. § 41 et al.). Specifically, H.R. 950 makes it unlawful for any ticket issuer to "prohibit or restrict the resale or offering for resale of an event ticket by a lawful possessor thereof" or to "engage in the primary or resale market for event ticket sales ... without complying with the consumer protection minimum standards specified ... with regard to event ticket sales." Violations of these provisions would be treated as a "violation of a rule under Section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices." The bill would allow states to enforce these provisions through civil parens patriae actions on behalf of the party or parties allegedly injured and permit the FTC to enforce these provisions "in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers and duties, as though all applicable provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made a part of this Act." These prohibitions would thus be enforceable through FTC civil actions as well as through criminal referral to the Department of Justice under 15 U.S.C. § 46(k). H.R. 950 also seeks to preempt state and local anti-scalping laws except in a few specified circumstances.
S. 523:
Sponsor: Schumer (D - NY)
Official Title: A bill to provide for enhanced criminal penalties for individuals who file a SEVP certification petition under false pretenses.
Status:
3/9/2011: Introduced in Senate
3/9/2011: Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
Commentary: This bill would increase the applicable criminal penalty for individuals who commit visa fraud by filing a petition for certification or recertification with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) under false pretenses. Specifically, S. 523 would make it a federal crime for a person "representing himself or herself as a principal, officer, or director of an educational institution" to "knowingly, and for pecuniary gain" file under false pretenses a "petition for certification or recertification with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program for attendance at such institution of nonimmigrant students." Attempted false pretense filings or conspiracy to file fraudulent SEVP petitions would also be subject to criminal sanction under the bill. Violations of any of S. 523's criminal provisions would be punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment, fines under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, or both. This bill would provide federal prosecutors with yet another statutory basis for prosecuting alleged incidents of visa fraud despite the fact that such violations are already punishable under 18 U.S.C. § 1546, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and 18 U.S.C. § 371, among other statutes and regulations.
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Table of Contents
New:
H.R. 1050: Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2011
H.R. 964: Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act
H.R. 950: Ticket Act
S. 523:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.R. 1050: Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2011
Sponsor: Johnson (R - TX)
Official Title: To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to improve access and choice for entrepreneurs with small businesses with respect to medical care for their employees.
Status:
3/11/2011: Introduced in House
3/11/2011: Referred to House Education and the Workforce Committee
Commentary: This bill is nearly identical to H.R. 2607 in the 111th Congress, which Representative Johnson also introduced. Like H.R. 2607, H.R. 1050 would allow businesses and other organizations to offer their employees or members health insurance coverage through new mechanisms known as "association health plans." In conjunction with this framework, H.R. 1050 creates a new criminal offense that would punish individuals or entities for willfully misrepresenting any other kind of health insurance plan or arrangement as an association health plan. Violations of this provision would be punishable by criminal sanctions of up to five years imprisonment, fines under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, or both.
H.R. 964: Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act
Sponsor: Bishop (D - NY)
Official Title: To protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and other fuels, and for other purposes.
Status:
3/9/2011: Introduced in House
3/9/2011: Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
Commentary: This bill, nearly identical to H.R. 2129 in the 111th Congress, would criminalize certain fuel sales during presidentially declared "energy emergencies" based on the amorphous and subjective civil-law standard of unconscionability. Retail and wholesale fuel sellers could be criminally punished if the federal government determines - based on a post-hoc analysis of the market - that the fuel price was "unconscionably excessive." H.R. 964 specifically prohibits the sale of gasoline or any other petroleum distillate "during a period of an international crisis affecting the oil markets" at a price that is "unconscionably excessive ... and [that] indicates that the seller is taking unfair advantage of the circumstances related to an international crisis to increase prices unreasonably." Violations of this prohibition would be treated as violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. § 41 et al.) and would be punishable by civil penalties and criminal fines of up to $500 million under Title 18 of the U.S. Code. Unlike H.R. 2129, which differentiated between corporate and individual violators for the purposes of criminal punishment, H.R. 964 subjects corporations and individuals to the same maximum criminal sanction. H.R. 964's criminal provisions do not authorize imprisonment for violators, however.
H.R. 950: Ticket Act
Sponsor: Matheson (D - UT)
Official Title: To prohibit restrictions on the resale of event tickets sold in interstate commerce as an unfair or deceptive act or practice.
Status:
3/8/2011: Introduced in House
3/8/2011: Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
Commentary: This bill seeks to override state and local prohibitions on the resale of event tickets by subjecting them to the requirements of the unfair and deceptive trade practices provisions of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act (15 U.S.C. § 41 et al.). Specifically, H.R. 950 makes it unlawful for any ticket issuer to "prohibit or restrict the resale or offering for resale of an event ticket by a lawful possessor thereof" or to "engage in the primary or resale market for event ticket sales ... without complying with the consumer protection minimum standards specified ... with regard to event ticket sales." Violations of these provisions would be treated as a "violation of a rule under Section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices." The bill would allow states to enforce these provisions through civil parens patriae actions on behalf of the party or parties allegedly injured and permit the FTC to enforce these provisions "in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers and duties, as though all applicable provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made a part of this Act." These prohibitions would thus be enforceable through FTC civil actions as well as through criminal referral to the Department of Justice under 15 U.S.C. § 46(k). H.R. 950 also seeks to preempt state and local anti-scalping laws except in a few specified circumstances.
S. 523:
Sponsor: Schumer (D - NY)
Official Title: A bill to provide for enhanced criminal penalties for individuals who file a SEVP certification petition under false pretenses.
Status:
3/9/2011: Introduced in Senate
3/9/2011: Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
Commentary: This bill would increase the applicable criminal penalty for individuals who commit visa fraud by filing a petition for certification or recertification with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) under false pretenses. Specifically, S. 523 would make it a federal crime for a person "representing himself or herself as a principal, officer, or director of an educational institution" to "knowingly, and for pecuniary gain" file under false pretenses a "petition for certification or recertification with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program for attendance at such institution of nonimmigrant students." Attempted false pretense filings or conspiracy to file fraudulent SEVP petitions would also be subject to criminal sanction under the bill. Violations of any of S. 523's criminal provisions would be punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment, fines under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, or both. This bill would provide federal prosecutors with yet another statutory basis for prosecuting alleged incidents of visa fraud despite the fact that such violations are already punishable under 18 U.S.C. § 1546, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and 18 U.S.C. § 371, among other statutes and regulations.
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