SB95 Alabama 2019 Session

Under existing law, no penalty exists for the intentional use of misleading caller identification information by telephone solicitors

Also under existing law, the Public Service Commission (PSC) operates a database of residential telephone subscribers who object to receiving telephone solicitations. The PSC is authorized to charge a fee every two years for inclusion on the list. A person or entity is prohibited from making a telephone solicitation to any residential subscriber on the list. In addition, a person or entity making a telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber is required to identify himself or herself and is prohibited from circumventing caller identification. The PSC is authorized to assess a civil penalty up to $2,000 for violations and under certain conditions a person may bring a civil action for damages up to $2,000

This bill would prohibit the intentional misuse of misleading caller identification information by telephone solicitors, and would increase the civil penalty to $5,000

Violations of the prohibitions against caller ID spoofing would also be made violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act in order to provide for enforcement by the Attorney General

This bill would provide that the Do Not Call Law would also apply to commercial telephone subscribers and to cellular telephone subscribers

The bill would also increase the civil penalty and the amount of damages that may be recovered for Do Not Call Law violations to $5,000

This bill would designate the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General as the criminal prosecuting authority for violations relating to unlawful telephone solicitations

This bill would not apply to telephone solicitations made on behalf of charitable institutions

This bill would also not apply to solicitations in which the telephone solicitor has substituted the proper caller identification information of the party on whose behalf the solicitation has been made

Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose

The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment

Relating to robocalling, caller ID spoofing, and the do-not-call list; to amend Sections 8-19A-3, 8-19A-20, 8-19C-2, 8-19C-3, 8-19C-5, 8-19C-6, 8-19C-7, and 8-19C-11 of the Code of Alabama 1975; to provide that the do-not-call list laws would apply to commercial telephone subscribers and cellular telephone subscribers; to increase the amount of civil penalties that may be assessed by the commission for violations; to increase the amount of civil damages that may be recovered under certain conditions; and in connection therewith would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901.