OVERNIGHT REGULATIONS: Dems seek federal ban on conversion therapy

Welcome to OVERNIGHT REGULATION, your daily rundown of news from Capitol Hill and beyond. It’s Tuesday evening here in Washington and we’re taking bets on whether the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is going to drop its semiannual regulatory agenda on Friday. The agency has a history of dropping big news on the eve of major federal holidays when most people are traveling for the long weekend and the media is looking to pack up at 5 o’clock for once.

This is what’s happening:

 

THE BIG STORY

House Democrats have introduced legislation to force a federal ban on gay conversion therapy.

The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act, unveiled Tuesday by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and co-sponsored by Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), would amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to clarify that providing conversion therapy to any person in exchange for monetary compensation or advertising these services is an unfair and deceptive act.

This legislation would require the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the ban to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from a form of therapy Lieu referred to as dangerous and an often overlooked form of discrimination. 

{mosads}”This vitally important legislation has the potential to save countless lives across this country by helping to end a practice that uses fear and shame to tell LGBT people the only way to find love or acceptance is to change the very nature of who they are,” Human Rights Campaign Government Affairs Director David Stacy said in a news release. “We’re proud to work alongside Congressman Lieu and our partners to send a different message — a message of hope, acceptance, and love where such a demeaning and destructive practice isn’t promoted as useful therapy.”

Conversion therapy, which is sometime performed by licensed mental health providers, seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, the HRC said. The practice is based on the premise that being LGBT is a mental illness that needs to be cured, a theory, which major health organizations have rejected for decades.

HRC said conversion therapy can be devastating to LGBT youth and lead to depression, decreased self-esteem, substance abuse, homelessness and even suicidal behavior.

Last month, President Obama called for an end to the practice after a WhiteHouse.gov petition called “Enact Leelah’s Law to Ban All LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy” received more than 120,000 signatures.

The petition was named after Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender youth who committed suicide in December. In the note she left behind, she said her parents “forced her to attend conversion therapy, pulled her out of school and isolated her in an attempt to change her gender identity,” according to the petition.

“Americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender don’t need a ‘cure,’ they need equality under the law,” DelBene said in a news release. “This legislation is an important step toward protecting the LGBT community and their families from the fraudulent promises of conversion.”

Not every one agrees, however, that a federal ban on the practice is necessary.

Christopher Doyle, a licensed clinical professional counselor, said professionals in his field are not converting gay people into straight people. In fact, the director of the International Healing Foundation, who said he’s a former gay man, said no one in the field even uses that term.

“Conversion therapy this is a term coined by gay activists to paint a picture in the minds of the America people that we are converting gay people,” he said. “Our clients come to us and say their sexual identity is heterosexual and they are experiencing unwanted homosexual feelings. We are helping our clients work through these issues.”

Issues, he said, that sometimes stem from sexual abuse. As for claims that therapists and counselors are using aversion therapies like electroshock, Doyle said those are practices that haven’t been used since the 1960s

“We’re not converting anyone,” he said. http://bit.ly/1PvkLzL

 

ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY

The House Agriculture Committee will mark up country of origin labeling legislation in response to the recent World Trade Organization ruling. http://1.usa.gov/1F0huyk

The House Administration Committee will grill U.S. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine over recent lapses in security at the Capitol Building. http://1.usa.gov/1Pvv472

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will mark up a number of bills, including the Knife Owners Protection Act. http://1.usa.gov/1Ajy7rO

 

TOMORROW’S REGS TODAY

The Obama administration will publish 240 new regulations, proposed rules, notices and other administrative actions in Wednesday’s edition of the Federal Register.

Here’s what to watch for:

–The Surface Transportation Board will consider issuing new rules defining “on-time performance” for trains.

“The board concludes that it is appropriate to institute a rulemaking proceeding to define on-time performance,” the agency writes. http://bit.ly/1PUxyXq

–The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will develop new agricultural worker protection standards to address the use of pesticides.

The EPA sent an advanced copy of the draft regulatory document to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for review, but won’t release the rule to the public for another 30 days.

The Agriculture secretary will have an opportunity to comment on the rule before it is released to the public. http://bit.ly/1S8qpGV

–The Department of Energy (DOE) will delay new test procedures for water heaters.

The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy proposed moving toward uniform efficiency measurements for water heaters in April, but is now reopening the comment period.

The public will have until June 15 to comment. http://bit.ly/1FssZ55

–The DOE will delay potentially new efficiency rules for residential boilers.

The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in March proposed new energy conservation standards for residential boilers along with a document looking at the potential economic impacts and energy savings of such a rule.

But the agency is now extending the comment period through July 1 to give the public more time to discuss the potential changes. http://bit.ly/1FssUOS

 

NEWS RIGHT NOW

Animal antibiotics: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a new rule Tuesday that would require animal drug manufacturers to track how much of their antibiotics sold are for chicken, cattle, pigs, turkeys and other food-producing animals. http://bit.ly/1AjTFoe

Gun shows: A House Democrat has introduced legislation that would require sellers to obtain a background check for all guns sold at gun shows. http://bit.ly/1HsVQIQ

ATF: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) should be abolished, because of its inability to enforce gun laws, according to a lengthy report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress. http://bit.ly/1AdJIZP

Cancer charities: The Federal Trade Commission has charged four major cancer charities and their operators with bilking $187 million from donors. http://bit.ly/1PvsVIk

Police: The issue of police reform is heating up on Capitol Hill as lawmakers search for ways to build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. http://bit.ly/1S8ZBX7

Takata recall: The recall of defective airbags that were manufactured by Japanese auto parts company Takata has been expanded to nearly 34 million cars, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Wednesday. http://nyti.ms/1difQBk

Minimum wage: The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, The New York Times reports. http://nyti.ms/1difQBk

Same-sex marriage: Hitting a new all-time high, 60 percent of Americans say they believe marriage between same-sex couples should be recognized by law, according to a new poll, NPR reports. http://n.pr/1dilzqW

 

BY THE NUMBERS

$874M: The amount of money it could cost retailers and restaurants to comply with the Obama administration’s overtime rule.

$455: The weekly pay level above which many employees do not qualify for overtime pay.

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“They think it’s going to legitimate purposes, and they don’t have a lot of ability to discern where the money truly went,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, about consumers’ inability to detect fraud in charitable giving.

 

We’ll work to stay on top of these and other stories throughout the week, so check The Hill’s Regulation page (http://digital-release.thehill.com/regulation) early and often for the latest. And send any comments, complaints or regulatory news tips our way, tdevaney@digital-release.thehill.com or lwheeler@digital-release.thehill.com. And follow us at @timdevaney and@wheelerlydia.

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