Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB314 Compare Versions

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11 II
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION S. 314
55 To prohibit unfair and deceptive advertising of prices for hotel rooms and
66 other places of short-term lodging, and for other purposes.
77 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
88 JANUARY29, 2025
99 Ms. K
1010 LOBUCHAR(for herself, Mr. MORAN, Ms. CORTEZMASTO, and Mrs.
1111 C
1212 APITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
1313 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
1414 A BILL
1515 To prohibit unfair and deceptive advertising of prices for
1616 hotel rooms and other places of short-term lodging, and
1717 for other purposes.
1818 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1919 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2020 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2121 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hotel Fees Trans-4
2222 parency Act of 2025’’. 5
2323 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ADVER-6
2424 TISING OF HOTEL ROOMS AND OTHER 7
2525 SHORT-TERM RENTAL PRICES. 8
2626 (a) P
2727 ROHIBITION.— 9
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3131 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 1
3232 covered entity to display, advertise, market, or offer 2
3333 in interstate commerce, including through direct of-3
3434 ferings, third-party distribution, or metasearch refer-4
3535 rals, a price for covered services that does not clear-5
3636 ly, conspicuously, and prominently— 6
3737 (A) display the total services price, if a 7
3838 price is displayed, in any advertisement, mar-8
3939 keting, or price list wherever the covered serv-9
4040 ices are displayed, advertised, marketed, or of-10
4141 fered for sale; 11
4242 (B) disclose to any individual who seeks to 12
4343 purchase covered services the total services 13
4444 price at the time the covered services are first 14
4545 displayed to the individual and anytime there-15
4646 after throughout the covered services pur-16
4747 chasing process; and 17
4848 (C) disclose, prior to the final purchase, 18
4949 any tax, fee, or assessment imposed by any gov-19
5050 ernment entity, quasi-government entity, or 20
5151 government-created special district or program 21
5252 on the sale of covered services. 22
5353 (2) I
5454 NDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS .—Provided that 23
5555 such displays are less prominent than the total serv-24
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5959 ice price required in paragraph (1), nothing in this 1
6060 Act shall be construed to prohibit the display of— 2
6161 (A) individual components of the total 3
6262 price; or 4
6363 (B) details of other items not required by 5
6464 paragraph (1). 6
6565 (3) I
6666 NDEMNIFICATION PROVISIONS .—Nothing 7
6767 in this section shall be construed to prohibit any cov-8
6868 ered entity from entering into a contract with any 9
6969 other covered entity that contains an indemnification 10
7070 provision with respect to price or fee information 11
7171 disclosed, exchanged, or shared between the covered 12
7272 entities that are parties to the contract. 13
7373 (b) E
7474 NFORCEMENT.— 14
7575 (1) E
7676 NFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION .— 15
7777 (A) U
7878 NFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC -16
7979 TICES.—A violation of subsection (a) shall be 17
8080 treated as a violation of a rule defining an un-18
8181 fair or deceptive act or practice prescribed 19
8282 under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 20
8383 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 21
8484 (B) P
8585 OWERS OF THE COMMISSION .— 22
8686 (i) I
8787 N GENERAL.—The Commission 23
8888 shall enforce this section in the same man-24
8989 ner, by the same means, and with the 25
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9393 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as 1
9494 though all applicable terms and provisions 2
9595 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 3
9696 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into 4
9797 and made a part of this Act. 5
9898 (ii) P
9999 RIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES .— 6
100100 Any person who violates this section shall 7
101101 be subject to the penalties and entitled to 8
102102 the privileges and immunities provided in 9
103103 the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 10
104104 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 11
105105 (iii) A
106106 UTHORITY PRESERVED .—Noth-12
107107 ing in this section shall be construed to 13
108108 limit the authority of the Commission 14
109109 under any other provision of law. 15
110110 (2) E
111111 NFORCEMENT BY STATES .— 16
112112 (A) I
113113 N GENERAL.—If the attorney general 17
114114 of a State has reason to believe that an interest 18
115115 of the residents of the State has been or is 19
116116 being threatened or adversely affected by a 20
117117 practice that violates subsection (a), the attor-21
118118 ney general of the State may, as parens patriae, 22
119119 bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of 23
120120 the State in an appropriate district court of the 24
121121 United States to obtain appropriate relief. 25
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125125 (B) RIGHTS OF THE COMMISSION .— 1
126126 (i) N
127127 OTICE TO THE COMMISSION .— 2
128128 (I) I
129129 N GENERAL.—Except as pro-3
130130 vided in subclause (III), the attorney 4
131131 general of a State, before initiating a 5
132132 civil action under subparagraph (A) 6
133133 shall notify the Commission in writing 7
134134 that the attorney general intends to 8
135135 bring such civil action. 9
136136 (II) C
137137 ONTENTS.—The notifica-10
138138 tion required by subclause (I) shall in-11
139139 clude a copy of the complaint to be 12
140140 filed to initiate the civil action. 13
141141 (III) E
142142 XCEPTION.—If it is not 14
143143 feasible for the attorney general of a 15
144144 State to provide the notification re-16
145145 quired by subclause (I) before initi-17
146146 ating a civil action under subpara-18
147147 graph (A), the attorney general shall 19
148148 notify the Commission immediately 20
149149 upon instituting the civil action. 21
150150 (ii) I
151151 NTERVENTION BY THE COMMIS -22
152152 SION.—The Commission may— 23
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156156 (I) intervene in any civil action 1
157157 brought by the attorney general of a 2
158158 State under subparagraph (A); and 3
159159 (II) upon intervening— 4
160160 (aa) be heard on all matters 5
161161 arising in the civil action; and 6
162162 (bb) file petitions for appeal. 7
163163 (C) I
164164 NVESTIGATORY POWERS .—Nothing in 8
165165 this paragraph may be construed to prevent the 9
166166 attorney general of a State from exercising the 10
167167 powers conferred on the attorney general by the 11
168168 laws of the State to conduct investigations, to 12
169169 administer oaths or affirmations, or to compel 13
170170 the attendance of witnesses or the production of 14
171171 documentary or other evidence. 15
172172 (D) A
173173 CTION BY THE COMMISSION .—When-16
174174 ever a civil action has been instituted by or on 17
175175 behalf of the Commission for violation of sub-18
176176 section (a), no attorney general of a State may, 19
177177 during the pendency of that action, institute an 20
178178 action under subparagraph (A) against any de-21
179179 fendant named in the complaint in that action 22
180180 for a violation of subsection (a) alleged in such 23
181181 complaint. 24
182182 (E) V
183183 ENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 25
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187187 (i) VENUE.—Any action brought 1
188188 under subparagraph (A) may be brought 2
189189 in— 3
190190 (I) the district court of the 4
191191 United States that meets applicable 5
192192 requirements relating to venue under 6
193193 section 1391 of title 28, United States 7
194194 Code; or 8
195195 (II) another court of competent 9
196196 jurisdiction. 10
197197 (ii) S
198198 ERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an ac-11
199199 tion brought under subparagraph (A), 12
200200 process may be served in any district in 13
201201 which— 14
202202 (I) the defendant is an inhab-15
203203 itant, may be found, or transacts 16
204204 business; or 17
205205 (II) venue is proper under section 18
206206 1391 of title 28, United States Code. 19
207207 (F) A
208208 CTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFI -20
209209 CIALS.— 21
210210 (i) I
211211 N GENERAL.—In addition to civil 22
212212 actions brought by an attorney general 23
213213 under subparagraph (A), any other officer 24
214214 of a State who is authorized by the State 25
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218218 to do so may bring a civil action under 1
219219 subparagraph (A), subject to the same re-2
220220 quirements and limitations that apply 3
221221 under this paragraph to civil actions 4
222222 brought by attorneys general. 5
223223 (ii) S
224224 AVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in 6
225225 this paragraph may be construed to pro-7
226226 hibit an authorized official of a State from 8
227227 initiating or continuing any proceeding in 9
228228 a court of the State for a violation of any 10
229229 civil or criminal law of the State. 11
230230 (3) A
231231 FFIRMATIVE DEFENSE .—In any action 12
232232 pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2), an intermediary 13
233233 or third-party online seller may assert an affirmative 14
234234 defense if such intermediary or third-party online 15
235235 seller— 16
236236 (A) established procedures to receive up-to- 17
237237 date price information from hotels or short- 18
238238 term rentals, or agents acting on behalf of a 19
239239 hotel or short-term rental; 20
240240 (B) relied in good faith on information 21
241241 provided to the intermediary or third-party on-22
242242 line seller by a hotel or short-term rental, or 23
243243 agent acting on behalf of such hotel or short- 24
244244 term rental, and such information was inac-25
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248248 curate at the time it was provided to the inter-1
249249 mediary or third-party online seller; and 2
250250 (C) took prompt action to remove or cor-3
251251 rect any false or inaccurate information about 4
252252 the total services price after receiving notice 5
253253 that such information was false or inaccurate. 6
254254 (c) P
255255 REEMPTION.— 7
256256 (1) I
257257 N GENERAL.—A State, or political subdivi-8
258258 sion of a State, may not maintain, enforce, pre-9
259259 scribe, or continue in effect any law, rule, regulation, 10
260260 requirement, standard, or other provision having the 11
261261 force and effect of law of the State, or political sub-12
262262 division of the State, that prohibits a covered entity 13
263263 from advertising, displaying, marketing, or otherwise 14
264264 offering, or otherwise affects the manner in which a 15
265265 covered entity may advertise, display, market, or 16
266266 otherwise offer, for sale in interstate commerce, in-17
267267 cluding through a direct offering, third-party dis-18
268268 tribution, or metasearch referral, a price of a res-19
269269 ervation for a covered service, and that requires fee 20
270270 disclosure, unless the law requires the total services 21
271271 price to include each service fee, as defined in sub-22
272272 section (d)(8), and in accordance with subsection 23
273273 (a)(1). 24
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277277 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—This section 1
278278 may not be construed to— 2
279279 (A) preempt any law of a State or political 3
280280 subdivision of a State relating to contracts or 4
281281 torts; or 5
282282 (B) preempt any law of a State or political 6
283283 subdivision of a State to the extent that such 7
284284 law relates to an act of fraud, unauthorized ac-8
285285 cess to personal information, or notification of 9
286286 unauthorized access to personal information. 10
287287 (d) D
288288 EFINITIONS.—In this Act: 11
289289 (1) B
290290 ASE SERVICES PRICE.—The term ‘‘base 12
291291 services price’’— 13
292292 (A) means, with respect to the covered 14
293293 services provided by a hotel or short-term rent-15
294294 al, the price in order to obtain the covered serv-16
295295 ices of the hotel or short-term rental; and 17
296296 (B) does not include— 18
297297 (i) any service fee; 19
298298 (ii) any taxes or fees imposed by a 20
299299 government or quasi-government entity; 21
300300 (iii) assessment fees of a government- 22
301301 created special district or program; or 23
302302 (iv) any charges or fees for an op-24
303303 tional product or service associated with 25
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307307 the covered services that may be selected 1
308308 by a purchaser of covered services. 2
309309 (2) C
310310 OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 3
311311 means the Federal Trade Commission. 4
312312 (3) C
313313 OVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en-5
314314 tity’’ means a person, partnership, or corporation 6
315315 with respect to whom the Commission has jurisdic-7
316316 tion under section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade 8
317317 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)), including— 9
318318 (A) a hotel or short-term rental; 10
319319 (B) a third-party online seller; or 11
320320 (C) an intermediary. 12
321321 (4) C
322322 OVERED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘covered 13
323323 services’’— 14
324324 (A) means the temporary provision of a 15
325325 room, building, or other lodging facility; and 16
326326 (B) does not include the provision of a 17
327327 meeting room, banquet services, or catering 18
328328 services. 19
329329 (5) H
330330 OTEL.—The term ‘‘hotel’’ means an es-20
331331 tablishment that is— 21
332332 (A) primarily engaged in providing a cov-22
333333 ered service to the general public; and 23
334334 (B) promoted, advertised, or marketed in 24
335335 interstate commerce or for which such estab-25
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339339 lishment’s services are sold in interstate com-1
340340 merce. 2
341341 (6) I
342342 NTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘‘intermediary’’ 3
343343 means an entity that operates either as a business- 4
344344 to-business platform, consumer-facing platform, or 5
345345 both, that displays, including through direct offer-6
346346 ings, third-party distribution, or metasearch referral, 7
347347 a price for covered services or price comparison tools 8
348348 for consumers seeking covered services. 9
349349 (7) O
350350 PTIONAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE .—The 10
351351 term ‘‘optional product or service’’ means a product 11
352352 or service that an individual does not need to pur-12
353353 chase to use or obtain covered services 13
354354 (8) S
355355 ERVICE FEE.—The term ‘‘service fee’’— 14
356356 (A) means a charge imposed by a covered 15
357357 entity that must be paid in order to obtain cov-16
358358 ered services; and 17
359359 (B) does not include— 18
360360 (i) any taxes or fees imposed by a 19
361361 government or quasi-government entity; 20
362362 (ii) any assessment fees of a govern-21
363363 ment-created special district or program; 22
364364 or 23
365365 (iii) any charges or fees for an op-24
366366 tional product or service associated with 25
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370370 the covered services that may be selected 1
371371 by a purchaser of covered services. 2
372372 (9) S
373373 HORT-TERM RENTAL.—The term ‘‘short- 3
374374 term rental’’ means a property, including a single- 4
375375 family dwelling or a unit in a condominium, coopera-5
376376 tive, or time-share, that provides covered services 6
377377 (either with respect to the entire property or a part 7
378378 of the property) to the general public— 8
379379 (A) in exchange for a fee; 9
380380 (B) for periods shorter than 30 consecutive 10
381381 days; and 11
382382 (C) is promoted, advertised, or marketed in 12
383383 interstate commerce or for which such prop-13
384384 erty’s services are sold in interstate commerce. 14
385385 (10) S
386386 TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 15
387387 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and any ter-16
388388 ritory or possession of the United States. 17
389389 (11) T
390390 HIRD-PARTY ONLINE SELLER .—The term 18
391391 ‘‘third-party online seller’’ means any person other 19
392392 than a hotel or short-term rental that sells covered 20
393393 services or offers for sale covered services with re-21
394394 spect to a hotel or short-term rental in a transaction 22
395395 facilitated on the internet. 23
396396 (12) T
397397 OTAL SERVICES PRICE.—The term ‘‘total 24
398398 services’’— 25
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402402 (A) means, with respect to covered serv-1
403403 ices, the total cost of the covered services, in-2
404404 cluding the base services price and any service 3
405405 fees; and 4
406406 (B) does not include— 5
407407 (i) any taxes or fees imposed by a 6
408408 government or quasi-government entity; 7
409409 (ii) any assessment fees of a govern-8
410410 ment-created special district or program; 9
411411 or 10
412412 (iii) any charges or fees for an op-11
413413 tional product or service associated with 12
414414 the covered services that may be selected 13
415415 by a purchaser of covered services. 14
416416 (e) E
417417 FFECTIVEDATE.—The prohibition under sub-15
418418 section (a) shall take effect 450 days after the date of 16
419419 the enactment of this Act and shall apply to advertise-17
420420 ments, displays, marketing, and offers of covered services 18
421421 of a covered entity made on or after such date. 19
422422 Æ
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