SB 618 Text

Senate Bill No. 618
(By Senators Love, Bailey, Bowman, Facemyer, Fanning and Weeks)
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[Introduced February 17, 2006; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §46A-6-101 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §46A-6-105 of said code, all relating to encouraging consistent statutory construction of state and federal consumer protection laws; and providing an exemption for acts permitted by the Federal Trade Commission.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §46A-6-101 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §46A-6-105 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. GENERAL CONSUMER PROTECTION.
§46A-6-101. Legislative declarations; statutory construction.
(1) The Legislature hereby declares that the purpose of this article is to complement the body of federal law governing unfair competition and unfair, deceptive and fraudulent acts or practices in order to protect the public and foster fair and honest competition. It is the intent of the Legislature that, in construing this article, the courts be guided by the interpretation given by the federal courts to the various federal statutes dealing with the same or similar matters. To this end, this article shall be liberally construed so that its beneficial purposes may be served.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that in construing this article, the courts shall give due deference to the Federal Trade Commission and interpretations given by the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts to the provisions of 15 U.S.C. §45(a)(1).
~~(2)~~ (3) It is, however, the further intent of the Legislature that this article ~~shall~~ may not be construed to prohibit acts or practices which are reasonable in relation to the development and preservation of business or which are not injurious to the public interest, nor shall this article be construed to repeal by implication the provisions of articles eleven, eleven-a and eleven-b, chapter forty-seven of this code.

§46A-6-105. Exempted transactions.

(1) Nothing in this article shall apply to actions or transactions expressly permitted by the Federal Trade Commission.
(2) Nothing in this article shall apply to acts done by the publisher, owner, agent or employee of a newspaper, periodical or radio or television station in the publication or dissemination of an advertisement, when the owner, agent or employee did not have knowledge of the false, misleading or deceptive character of the advertisement, did not prepare the advertisement and did not have a direct financial interest in the sale or distribution of the advertised goods or services.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that West Virginia's Consumer Protection Act should not be interpreted by our courts in a manner that would impose liability based upon conduct permitted by the Federal Trade Commission.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

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