Co-Sponsors Halt TCPA Legislation

View this article at ACA International.

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), co-sponsors of H.R. 3035, sent a letter to Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, requesting that the legislation not advance.

The bill, known as the Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011, was intended to modernize the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to allow businesses to use assistive telecommunications technology, such as predictive dialers, to contact consumers on their wireless numbers for calls that do not constitute a solicitation.

H.R. 3035 came under fire by consumer groups and states' attorneys general, who believed the bill would open consumers to a flood of unwanted calls and texts to their cell phones.

ACA International and members of the TCPA Coalition of business organizations supporting H.R. 3035 are deeply disappointed by this action and will continue to advocate for legislation that better accounts for the increased use of cell phones and other modern day technologies such as autodialers.