It is Teasing Time For State Representatives - Robocall Bills Are Introduced and Then Taken Away

Washington, DC - Shaun Dakin, CEO The National Political Do Not Contact Registry - Sign up for free at StopPoliticalCalls.org

Legislative Silly Season has started.  Missouri legislators are issuing press releases about legislation that they are proposing that will get them headlines in the local press.  

Bottom line?  These MO legislators are teasing voters with legislation that they (I'm 99% sure) have no intention of trying to pass.

What is this type of bill called?

The Teaser. 

Legislation that is introduced by a representative WITH NO INTENTION OF REALLY GETTING IT PASSED.

This year, as in many previous years, a couple of State reps in MO are saying that they will introduce legislation that will ban political robo calls unless they are introduced by a live voice.

While MO may be the first state to announce, there will be many more to come.

Wait, here is the St. Louis Post Dispatch with their take.  Pretty cut and dry.

House Democrats Mary Still and Stephen Webber, both of Columbia, said they intended to revive a bill that went nowhere last year which would ban robo-calls by politicians, unless the recipient of the call agreed to accept them. Still and Webber are freshman members of the minority party, which means their legislation has little chance of passing.

I love it, the Post Dispatch comes right out and says it:  "their legislation has little chance of passing."

And the same reporter in the same paper says this in another article:

While they haven’t been assigned bill numbers yet, three Columbia Democrats also announced their intention to file bills today. One, supported by freshman lawmakers Mary Still and Stephen Webber, would ban robo-calls, unless the call was preceded by a live operator who asks the recipient for consent. A similar bill was sponsored by Democrat Ed Wildberger last year.

The similar bill sponsored last year died.  Quickly.

There are several states that have similar laws on the books (CA, NJ, SC, MN, and IN to name several).

The key to if voters receive relief or not in a particular state?

The political will to actually ENFORCE THE LAW.

Cases in point:

• Indiana has an AG in Steve Carter who decided to enforce the robo call ban in that state.   Very few political or commercial robo calls occur in IN.  
• California has a robo call ban that states that the call must be preceeded by a live voice.  In CA citizen's case, they have dual enforcing authorities that do NOTHING.  The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is responsble for enforcement; only they don't enforce the law.   The AG could also get involved.  He has not.

So, what is the prospect for this law?

Assuming that the law actually passes the house and senate in Missouri, it will require an AG to enforce the law and the political will to do so.

There is good news here, I hope.

Former AG Jay Nixon is now Governor elect in MO.  Jay has stated many times that he would like to add robo calls to the MO do not call list and made sure that his campaign did not make robo calls during the fall election.

But, don't hold your breath.

Washington, DC - Shaun Dakin, CEO The National Political Do Not Contact Registry - Sign up for free at StopPoliticalCalls.org