Md. House Panel Weighs Mini-TCPA
Maryland legislators are weighing a bill modeled on Florida and Oklahoma telemarketing laws, which go beyond the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). At a livestreamed hearing Thursday, Del. Vaughn Stewart (D) joked that he “plagiarized” his HB-37 from Florida…
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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The proposed Maryland mini-TCPA would require express written consent from consumers for robocalls and autodialing, with exemptions for nonprofits, political campaigns, business-to-business calls and isolated, nonroutine calls. The bill would ban calls between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. and calling more than three times in 24 hours. And it would prohibit caller ID spoofing and using voice alteration technology for fraud or deception. Stewart said he’s open to amending the bill to exempt informational calls that companies make to their own customers. Proposed limits on autodialers are “admittedly more strict” than the federal TCPA, said the delegate, but they mirror Florida and Oklahoma laws. Del. Christopher Adams (R) asked if there weren’t already industry solutions to robocalls. Stewart said they’re not foolproof and his bill would complement those efforts. Del. Steven Arentz (R) raised concerns the measure may be “almost impossible to enforce.” The bill won’t “be a panacea,” but it will reduce spam calls and text, said Stewart: Florida spam calls declined after the state enacted its law. CTIA opposes HB-37, which could have “unintended consequences” preventing calls people want to receive, said lobbyist Rob Garagiola of Compass Advocacy. Industry is putting much effort into technology that stops spam call and texts, he said. AARP Maryland’s Karen Morgan supported the bill: “We’re drowning in robocalls.” The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony on its version of the same bill (SB-90) last week.