Lawmakers say the measure may not stop annoying dinner calls, but a Senate panel has endorsed a bill that would criminalize certain robocalls.
The hitch: A state law blocking out-of-state or out-of-nation dialers won’t be easy to implement, and may well fail to be effective. That’s because few, if any, of the robocalls in question are likely to originate in Vermont.
Still, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve the measure, S.11, that would enact a state law that closely mirrors a federal law that targets robocalls. It now heads to the 30-member Senate for consideration.
“I realize that one could argue that it’s limited in scope and won’t have much effect,” said Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, the committee chair, in making the motion to endorse the measure.
“I also think, being that we live in a copycat world, if Vermont passes such a bill, other legislatures around the country will begin to look at such a bill,” he said. “The more states that do this, the more, I think, Congress will listen and take some real action.”
The proposed state law will have its own penalty structure, separate from the federal one, with each criminal offense, or illegal call, carrying a sentence of up to 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine.
In addition, a person who receives a robocall could file a civil suit against the caller, with a penalty of up to $1,000 per call.
The bill includes several exemptions, mainly around public safety and free speech considerations. For example, the bill exempts calls that are “purely” informational, political calls or from health care providers.
Several committee members, including Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, raised questions during a hearing last week about how effective the proposed legislation would be.
“I’m coming to the conclusion,” said Benning, “that the only thing this bill will actually do is enable Vermont to prosecute somebody who originates a call from Vermont or enable a private citizen to bring a civil action against somebody who originates a call from Vermont.”
Benning voted for the measure largely based on testimony from the Vermont Attorney General’s Office in support of the legislation.
“I don’t believe it’s going to do much more beyond preventing someone from originating a robocall system from within Vermont’s border,” Benning said. “But to have that tool available should something like that happen, it’s OK by me.”
Charity Clark, chief of staff for Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan, wrote in an email late Tuesday afternoon that the office is aware that spam robocalls are are a challenging problem, but “this bill provides another enforcement tool in the toolbox.”
When Sears asked the panel how they wanted to proceed, the senators were silent at first.
Then, Sen. Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, spoke up.
“I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other myself,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to mirror federal law, so I’m in support of the bill.”
Sears then made the motion to advance the legislation to the full Senate for consideration. The committee unanimously agreed.
“I haven’t met anyone who tells me that they really enjoy the robocalls,” Sears said as the hearing drew to a close.
When Sears asked committee members if they wanted to present the bill on the Senate floor, Baruth replied, “I think it’s your baby,”
Sears said he’s willing to do it.
“We’ll take a poll of the Senate and see if anybody is in favor of robocalls and likes them,” he said.
