Pallone Reintroduces Legislation to Stop Robocalls

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) reintroduced his Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (H.R. 946) on February 4. This bill, which was first introduced last Congress, has already garnered 21 Democratic cosponsors. This legislation would clarify the definition of a robocall and clarify exemptions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) ban. It would also create a national database of reassigned phone numbers and require FCC-FTC cooperation to reduce abusive robocalls by at least 50% yearly. In a press release, Pallone said, “despite previous efforts like the Do Not Call Registry, robocalls are still on the rise. The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act will equip consumer protection agencies with innovative, new tools designed to stop the abusive practices by robocallers and better restrict unauthorized robocalls.” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted praise for the bill noting, “robocalls are the WORST. The FCC needs to do more to stop these irritating intrusions that are destroying trust in our communications networks.” The previous version of the bill introduced by Pallone in the last Congress did not move beyond the House Energy and Commerce Committee.