Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a bipartisan coalition of 29 attorneys general providing comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) intended to improve collaboration between the FTC and state attorneys general.
The comment letter is a response to a request from the FTC as part of the FTC Collaboration Act of 2021. The law directs the FTC to solicit comments and advice related to collaboration with state attorneys general to prevent and publicize fraud and scams, and penalize those who are responsible.
“Working closely with the FTC is a vital partner in my office’s work to hold businesses accountable for defrauding Illinois residents,” Raoul said. “I look forward to our continued collaboration with the FTC as my office protects consumers from fraud, deception and unfair business practices.”
Raoul and the coalition explain in their comments that according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s AMG Capital Management LLC v. Federal Trade Commission 2020 decision, Section 13b of the Federal Trade Commission Act does not authorize the FTC to obtain equitable monetary relief, which negatively impacts collaboration between the states and the FTC. For example, the FTC works to locate consumers who are owed refunds or restitution while many state attorneys general do not have the capacity to do that work. As a result, the potential loss of the FTC as a restitution resource could be a significant loss to the collaboration between the FTC and the states.
Raoul and the coalition also note in their comments that the states, the FTC and other federal partners have worked together for decades to benefit businesses and individual consumers, often partnering to bring law enforcement actions and to educate consumers about avoiding common scams. This collaboration has allowed the FTC to broaden its array of remedies available under state consumer protection laws, and has given the FTC access to state investigative resources, witnesses and expertise.
Joining Raoul in submitting the comments were attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
