THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY McGEEHAN, BARBIN, BELFANTI, BENNINGHOFF, BOBACK, BOYD, BRENNAN, CARROLL, DeLUCA, DePASQUALE, GABLER, GEORGE, GERGELY, GOODMAN, HALUSKA, HARHAI, HESS, KULA, MARSHALL, MURPHY, M. O'BRIEN, PASHINSKI, PETRARCA, READSHAW, ROAE, SCHRODER, SIPTROTH, R. TAYLOR, VULAKOVICH, DONATUCCI, HORNAMAN, SWANGER, SONNEY, McILVANE SMITH AND GIBBONS, JULY 20, 2009

AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 6, 2009   

AN ACT

Amending the act of December 4, 1996 (P.L.911, No.147), entitled

"An act providing for registration requirements for

telemarketers and for powers and duties of the Office of

Attorney General," further providing for definitions and for

registration requirement; and providing for unwanted

automatic political calls.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  The definition of "list administrator" in section

2 of the act of December 4, 1996 (P.L.911, No.147), known as the

Telemarketer Registration Act, amended September 12, 2003 (P.L.

105, No.22), is amended and the section is amended by adding

definitions to read:

Section 2.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Automatic dialing-announcing device."  A device that selects

and dials telephone numbers and that, working alone or in

conjunction with other equipment, disseminates a prerecorded or

synthesized voice message to the telephone number called.

"Automatic political call."  The use of an automatic dialing-

announcing device on behalf of any of the following:

(1)  A candidate as defined in section 102(a) of the act

of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania

Election Code; a party as defined in section 102(n) of the

Pennsylvania Election Code; or a political body as defined in

section 102(p) of the Pennsylvania Election Code.

(2)  A political committee as defined in section 1621(h)

of the Pennsylvania Election Code.

(3)  A political organization as defined in section

527(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Public Law

99-514, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.).

* * *

"List administrator."  [A nonprofit] An organization, as

designated by contract entered into by the Director of the

Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General,

that accepts individual names, addresses and telephone numbers

of persons who do not wish to receive telephone solicitation

calls and that has been in existence for ten or more years. In

the event that the Federal Trade Commission and/or Federal

Communications Commission establish a unified national No Call

Registry for the purpose of providing consumers with protection

from receiving unwanted telephone solicitation calls similar to

the protection provided in this act, then the Director of the

Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General

may enter into an agreement to utilize the services of the

administrator of any such national No Call Registry in lieu of

using [any nonprofit] an organization.

* * *

Section 2.  Section 3 of the act is amended to read:

Section 3.  Registration requirement.

(a)  General rule.--In addition to any other requirements

imposed by law, a telemarketer or the telemarketing business

which employs the telemarketer is required to register with the

Office of Attorney General at least 30 days prior to offering

for sale consumer goods or services through any medium. This

section will not apply, however, to persons or businesses

licensed by or registered with a Federal or Commonwealth agency

or to a person or business conducting telemarketing exclusively

through the use of automatic political calls. Notwithstanding

any other provision of this act, any business which provides

telemarketing services to other entities and has been under the

same ownership and control for less than five years shall

register under this section.

(b)  Unlawful conduct.--It shall be unlawful for any

telemarketer to initiate a telephone call to or receive a

telephone call from a consumer in connection with the purchase

of consumer goods or services unless the telemarketer or the

telemarketing business which employs the telemarketer is

registered with the Office of Attorney General.

(c)  Penalty.--Failure to register as required by this act

constitutes a misdemeanor of the second degree.

Section 3.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 5.3.  Unwanted automatic political calls.

(a)  General rule.--

(1)  Except as set forth in subsection (b), beginning 30

days after publication of the notice under paragraph (3), a

person may not initiate or cause to be initiated an automatic 

political call to a residential or wireless telephone number

of a telephone subscriber who does not wish to receive

automatic political calls and has caused the subscriber's

name, address and telephone number to be enrolled on a do-

not-call list for automatic political calls maintained by a

list administrator.

(2)  The list under paragraph (1) shall be developed and

maintained separately from the list established under section

5.2.

(3)  The list under paragraph (1) shall be completed by

<--

September 15, 2009 six months after the effective date of

<--

this section. The list administrator shall transmit a notice

of completion to the Legislative Reference Bureau for

publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

(4)  A residential telephone subscriber's name shall be

maintained on the list under paragraph (1) as long as the

telephone number is valid for the subscriber.

(5)  The Office of Attorney General may serve as the list

administrator for purposes of this subsection.

(6)  If the Office of Attorney General does not serve as

the list administrator for purposes of this subsection, the

list administrator shall provide the list under paragraph (1)

to the Office of Attorney General on a biannual basis.

(b)  Exceptions.--Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to a call

on behalf of a political candidate, political party or political

body made by an individual and not by an automatic dialing-

announcing device.

(c)  Listings.--A person that makes automatic political calls

shall:

(1)  obtain on a biannual basis a listing of residential

or wireless telephone subscribers in this Commonwealth who

have arranged to have their names, addresses and telephone

numbers enrolled on the list under subsection (a)(1); or

(2)  use a service provider who has obtained the list

under subsection (a)(1) in order to restrict the use of

automatic political calls.

(d)  Fee limitation.--A list administrator may not impose a

fee for a copy of the list under subsection (a)(1) which

exceeds:

(1)  the cost incurred by the list administrator in the

production, preparation and distribution of the list; or

(2)  the fee authorized by 16 CFR § 310.8(c) (relating to

fee for access to the National Do Not Call Registry).

(e)  Restriction.--A person may not use the list under

subsection (a)(1) for any purpose other than to remove a

residential or wireless telephone subscriber from a call list.

(f)  Investigation, enforcement and reporting.--

Investigation, enforcement and reporting shall be conducted in

accordance with section 5.2(k).

(g)  Violation.--A violation of this section shall constitute

an unlawful act under section 3 of the act of December 17, 1968

(P.L.1224, No.387), known as the Unfair Trade Practices and

Consumer Protection Law.

Section 4.  This act shall take effect immediately.