New Telemarketing Bill Moving Through Legislature
Second Bill Introduced After Citizen Complaints When First One Was Killed
The Colorado House has tentatively approved a bill that would allow people to add their phone numbers to a list of numbers that telemarketers could not call.
The bill would exempt nonprofit and political organizations, and any
telemarketer that commits three or more violations would be subject
to a fine of $2,000 per call to numbers on the
no-call list.
The list would be administered by a private authority
through a state contract.
It was the second such bill to be introduced this session. The
first one died over concerns about the exemptions. The sponsor of
House Bill 1405 -- Republican Representative Al White of Winter
Park -- voted against the first bill but introduced his bill after
saying he understood that the exemptions were required to avoid
violating free-speech rights.
Lawmakers who voted against the first bill also admitted that they were inundated with complaints from constituents who wanted something done.
That's when the Legislature decided to take a second look at a telemarketing bill.
The House approved the bill shortly before midnight. That was
the deadline to be able to set a final vote on the bill for
Tuesday, allowing time to move the bill through the Senate before
the regular session ends on Wednesday.
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The bill would exempt nonprofit and political organizations, and any
telemarketer that commits three or more violations would be subject
to a fine of $2,000 per call to numbers on the
no-call list.
The list would be administered by a private authority
through a state contract.
It was the second such bill to be introduced this session. The
first one died over concerns about the exemptions. The sponsor of
House Bill 1405 -- Republican Representative Al White of Winter
Park -- voted against the first bill but introduced his bill after
saying he understood that the exemptions were required to avoid
violating free-speech rights.
Lawmakers who voted against the first bill also admitted that they were inundated with complaints from constituents who wanted something done.
That's when the Legislature decided to take a second look at a telemarketing bill.
The House approved the bill shortly before midnight. That was
the deadline to be able to set a final vote on the bill for
Tuesday, allowing time to move the bill through the Senate before
the regular session ends on Wednesday.
- April 17, 2001:
Telemarketing Bill Killed By Senate Committee
Copyright 2002 by TheDenverChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
