Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, AGENCY NEWS: FTC submits 2016 budget request, performance plan, and 2014 performance report to Congress, (Feb 2, 2015)

By Dan Selcke, J.D.

As required under the Government Performance and Results and Modernization Act of 2010, the FTC has submitted to Congress its Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 budget request, according to an agency announcement. The document also includes the FY 2016 Budget Overview Statement, Performance Plan for FY 2015 and FY 2016, and Performance Report for FY 2014.

In reviewing its performance for 2014, the FTC touted its consumer protection record of having filed 69 new complaints in federal district court and obtained 99 permanent injunctions and orders requiring defendants to pay more than $392 million in consumer redress or disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, as well as civil contempt orders of more than $55.8 million. In terms of antitrust law enforcement, the agency brought 25 new competition law enforcement actions (merger and non-merger) during the same period, pursuing cases against pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and retail businesses, among others.

During the same period, the FTC further developed its cooperative relationships with foreign antitrust agencies like the International Competition Network (ICN) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which helped it police mergers of international concern.

For 2016, the FTC is requesting $309,206,000 and 1,191 full time employees. This represents an increase of $16,206,000 over the FTC’s FY 2015 enacted appropriation level. Nearly half of that increase would go toward paying for increased operating costs and initiatives to modernize the agency’s information technology infrastructure, which will help the FTC achieve its two main goals of protecting consumers and promoting competition.

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