MassInsider

Press Release: 2019-11-18

House and Senate Announce Agreement on “Anti-Robocall” Legislation

ACA International has been working for many months to ensure improvements to the reconciled legislation on behalf of members and the accounts receivable management industry. The bill text is expected to be released in the coming days.

11/15/2019 4:00 PM

NEWSTCPAADVOCACY

House and Senate Announce Agreement on “Anti-Robocall” Legislation

Friday afternoon bipartisan leaders in the House and Senate announced they have come to an agreement in principle on the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act led by U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

ACA International has been working for many months to improve the House version of the legislation, the “Stopping Bad Robocalls Act,” as well as the TRACED Act through a letter opposing the original draft of the House bill. ACA also secured important report language to recognize legal versus illegitimate callers in the TRACED Act.

House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Bob Latta, R-Ohio., are part of the agreement in principle on the legislation.

“We are proud to announce that we have come to an agreement in principle on legislation, the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, to combat the robocall epidemic that we believe can be signed into law by the President,” the House and Senate leaders said in a news release . “Our agreement will require telephone carriers to verify calls and allow robocalls to be blocked in a consistent and transparent way, all at no extra charge to consumers. The agreement also gives the FCC and law enforcement the ability to quickly go after scammers. We look forward to finalizing the bill text in the coming days.”

The U.S. Senate passed the TRACED Act 97-1 in May including important clarifications surrounding concerns raised by ACA, particularly to recognize the needs of legitimate callers. The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, sponsored by Pallone and Walden, was approved 429-3 in July.

The bills will be merged and reconciled as part of the agreement in principle.

ACA will continue to follow the status of these bills and the release of the bill text in the coming days. Subscribe to ACA Daily for continued updates.