The House postal subcommittee last Thursday unanimously approved a revised version of the Honesty in Sweepstakes Act (HR-170), introduced last January by Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ).
The measure, revised by the panel’s chairman, Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), with help from Reps. James Rogan (R-CA), Bill McCollum (R-FL), and LoBiondo, now goes to the panel’s parent, the House Government Reform Committee for consideration. Committee Chairman Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), is expected to schedule action on the bill within the next two to three weeks.
Basically the revised bill mirrors one previously approved by the Senate authored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME).
Both measures, supported by the Direct Marketing Association, would require direct mail sweepstakes operators to conspicuously indicate in their mailings that they are an invitation to participate in a sweepstakes or game of chance, the odds of winning and that no purchase is necessary to participate or win.
However they differ in several areas. First the Senate bill would require sweepstakes operators to remove the names of people not wanting to receive their officers within 35 days while the House bill would extend that time period to 60 days.
The House bill would permit individuals to sue sweepstakes operators for failing to remove their names from mailing lists in a timely fashion while the Senate bill does not.
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