Model Federal Statute to End Customer Entrapment by Website Subscriptions

118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. ____

To ensure fair, prompt, and equal cancellation and refund rights for online consumers, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Ms. Dean introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

A BILL

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Guaranteed Termination Fairness Online Act” or the “GTFO Act.”

SECTION 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

Congress finds that many websites and services design obstacles that make cancellation materially harder than enrollment, constituting unfair and deceptive acts or practices. The purpose of this Act is to ensure parity between enrollment and cancellation processes, protect consumers, and restore fairness in digital commerce.

SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS.

(1) “Covered entity” means any person or business that offers goods or services online to U.S. consumers. (2) “Equal ease” means that cancellation, termination, and refund processes take no longer and require no more effort than enrollment. (3) “Cancel” or “cancellation” means any process by which a consumer ends or unsubscribes from a service.

SECTION 4. CONSUMER RIGHT TO EQUAL EASE OF EXIT.

(a) All covered entities shall ensure cancellation and refunds are as fast, simple, and prominent as enrollment.
(b) Refunds must be processed within the same period that initial payments were processed.
(c) No entity may hide or obscure cancellation options through deceptive design or excessive steps.

SECTION 5. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES.

(a) The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce this Act under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
(b) Civil fines up to $50,000 per day or $10,000 per affected consumer.
(c) Willful violations causing losses over $1,000,000 may be punished by imprisonment up to 10 years and fines up to $5,000,000.

SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act shall take effect 180 days after enactment. Existing subscriptions shall come into compliance within 12 months.

Model Federal Statute to Mandate State Involuntary Commitment Laws for a Year, Based on Medical Necessaity, and Not on Dangerousness

 

The F.U.B.A.R. Act of 2025

Federal Uniform Behavioral Assistance and Recovery Act 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title

This Act may be cited as the “F.U.B.A.R. Act of 2025”—the Federal Uniform Behavioral Assistance and Recovery Act.

Section 2. Congressional Findings

Congress finds that:
1. The existing patchwork of state mental-health and substance-use commitment statutes is fouled up beyond all recognition, leaving millions of citizens with untreated psychosis or addiction to cycle between streets, jails, and emergency rooms.
2. Severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, schizo-affective disorder, bipolar disorder with psychotic features, and substance use disorders (including addiction to alcohol, opioids, or stimulants) are chronic brain illnesses that impair judgment and self-control.
3. Anosognosia, a neurological deficit causing unawareness of illness, frequently occurs in both psychotic and addicted individuals, rendering voluntary treatment impossible.
4. Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), when monitored and enforced, restores stability while preserving liberty and dignity.
5. Inpatient treatment is essential for individuals whose non-adherence, dangerousness, or severe anosognosia or addiction makes outpatient treatment impossible or unsafe.
6. The U.S. Air Force Suicide Prevention Program (1997–2002), a mandatory treatment model, reduced suicide by 33 percent, family violence by 54 percent, and homicide by 51 percent, proving that structured, necessity-based treatment saves lives.
7. Congress, under the Spending Clause and Fourteenth Amendment, may condition federal mental-health and addiction-treatment funding on uniform, humane, and medically necessary standards of care.
8. Property-Value and Community Stability Benefit: Uncontrolled street homelessness and visible, untreated psychosis or addiction impose severe negative externalities on surrounding neighborhoods. Real-estate market data and municipal appraisals demonstrate that homes located on blocks with persistent unsheltered individuals exhibiting psychotic or addictive behavior experience 10 to 20 percent declines in market value, often rendering sale or refinancing impossible. State compliance with this Act—through clinically supervised treatment, housing stabilization, and public-safety coordination—is expected to restore neighborhood property values, expand municipal tax bases, and improve community well-being.

Section 3. Requirement for State Legislation

(a) Each State and territory shall, within one year of enactment, enact laws substantially conforming to this Act.
(b) Any State failing to enact conforming legislation within the prescribed time shall be deemed non-compliant and subject to the penalties described in Section 10.
(c) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall publish annually a list of compliant and non-compliant States in the Federal Register.

Section 4. Model Commitment Standard

(a) Evaluation and Temporary Hold: A licensed mental-health or addiction-treatment practitioner may detain an individual for up to five (5) days upon probable cause that the person suffers from a severe mental disorder or substance use disorder and, as a result, cannot meet essential health or safety needs. A second independent practitioner shall confirm the diagnosis within that period.

(b) Outpatient Commitment Preferred: The court shall first consider Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) as the default and preferred form of commitment whenever the individual can safely receive care in the community. AOT orders shall require medication adherence, participation in substance-use disorder treatment where indicated, therapy attendance, case management, and periodic medical review. Failure to comply with AOT conditions, demonstrated clinical deterioration, relapse, or credible evidence of dangerousness shall authorize conversion to inpatient commitment without requiring a new dangerous act.

(c) Inpatient Commitment Criteria: The court shall order inpatient commitment when clear and convincing evidence shows that the person has a severe mental disorder or substance use disorder and either (i) is dangerous to self or others due to non-adherence, relapse, or loss of control, or (ii) suffers from severe anosognosia or addiction making outpatient treatment impossible. A finding of recent overt violence shall not be required.

(d) Duration and Renewal: Orders may extend up to one (1) year, renewable annually for three years and every five (5) years thereafter upon medical and judicial review.

Section 5. Definition of Anosognosia

“Anosognosia” means a medically verified neurological or psychiatric condition that renders a person with a severe mental disorder or substance use disorder unaware of their illness and incapable of voluntary, informed treatment participation. A confirmed diagnosis of anosognosia, together with serious psychiatric or addictive symptoms, constitutes mandatory grounds for inpatient commitment under this Act.

Section 6. Treatment, Rights, and Oversight

(a) Treatment Standards: All individuals committed under this Act shall receive evidence-based psychiatric and addiction treatment in the least restrictive environment consistent with safety.

(b) Due Process: Patients retain the right to counsel, independent medical evaluation, appeal, and periodic review.

(c) Progress Reporting: Facilities shall provide quarterly progress reports to the court and patient representative.

(d) Duration of Care: No person shall be discharged until a qualified treatment team certifies clinical stabilization and readiness for supervised community reintegration.

Section 7. Federal Oversight and Incentives

(a) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall certify compliance, collect and publish data on suicide, overdose, violence, homelessness, and relapse, and establish benchmarks modeled on the Air Force’s 33 percent suicide-reduction standard.

(b) States meeting or exceeding these benchmarks shall receive performance grants for expanded psychiatric and addiction-treatment infrastructure.

Section 8. Severability

If any provision or application of this Act is held invalid, the remainder remains in effect.

Section 9. Effective Date

This Act takes effect upon enactment. States must comply within one year.

Section 10. Enforcement and Penalties

(a) Funding Reduction: Any State that fails to adopt and maintain legislation substantially conforming to this Act shall automatically lose fifty percent (50%) of all federal mental-health and addiction-treatment funding, including but not limited to SAMHSA block grants and Title XIX allocations.

(b) Restoration of Funds: Funds shall be restored prospectively upon certification of compliance by the Secretary.

(c) Administrative Action: The Secretary may issue regulations to implement this section and impose additional withholdings for continued non-compliance.

(d) Public Accountability: The Secretary shall report annually to Congress on State compliance and penalties imposed.