Rep. Latta Praises FTC Process Reforms

Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, is on board with the Federal Trade Commission to process reforms being undertaken by acting chairman Maureen Ohlhausen.

Ohlhausen announced a sextet of reforms already in progress, including reducing the costs on industry of replaying to competition and consumer bureau investigations and getting rid of unneeded regs where possible.

"[T]hese initiatives will eliminate unnecessary regulations and improve transparency, ultimately ensuring this agency can better focus on its core mission of protecting consumers and promoting competition," said Latta in a statement.

"Today's announcement is just the first step to strengthening FTC’s consumer protection and providing greater certainty for businesses, fostering an environment that gives way to more innovation, and improving transparency for consumers. I commend Acting Chairwoman Ohlhausen, as she has wasted no time in implementing important reforms that that the committee has long championed."

It is no surprise that Latta is a fan. In fact, he points out that the committee recommended a package of FTC reforms last year, many of which were mirrored by Ohlhausen's efforts.

Those include the Start Taking Action on Lingering Liabilities (STALL) Act, the FTC Robust Elderly Protections and Organizational Requirements to Track Scams (REPORTS) Act, the Clarifying Legality and Enforcement Action Reasoning (CLEAR) Act, and the Revealing Economic Conclusions for Suggestions (RECS) Act.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.