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H0744......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
TELEPHONE SOLICITATION - Amends and adds to existing law to state
legislative findings; to clarify "telephone solicitation"; to provide for
establishment of a "no telephone solicitation contact" list, on which Idaho
residents may, for a fee, be placed; to prohibit telephone solicitors from
calling people on the list; to impose civil penalties for contacting
persons identified on the list; and to provide exceptions.
03/13 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/14 Rpt prt - to St Aff
03/17 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/20 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/21 3rd rdg - PASSED - 68-0-2
AYES -- Alltus, Barraclough, Barrett, Bell, Bieter, Black, Boe,
Bruneel, Callister, Campbell, Chase, Cheirrett, Clark, Crow, Cuddy,
Deal, Denney, Ellsworth, Field(13), Field(20), Gagner, Geddes, Gould,
Hadley, Hammond, Hansen(23), Hansen(29), Henbest, Hornbeck, Jaquet,
Jones, Judd, Kellogg, Kempton, Kendell, Kunz, Lake, Linford,
Loertscher, Mader, Marley, Meyer, Montgomery, Mortensen, Moss, Moyle,
Pearce, Pischner, Pomeroy, Reynolds, Ridinger, Ringo, Robison, Sali,
Schaefer, Sellman, Shepherd, Smith, Smylie, Stevenson, Stoicheff,
Stone, Tilman, Trail, Wheeler, Wood, Zimmermann, Mr Speaker
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- McKague, Taylor
Floor Sponsor - Ellsworth
Title apvd - to Senate
03/22 Senate intro - to 1st rdg
Senate intro - 1st rdg - to St Aff
03/29 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/30 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
04/04 3rd rdg - PASSED - 34-0-1
AYES--Andreason, Boatright, Bunderson, Burtenshaw, Cameron, Crow,
Danielson, Darrington, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes,
Hawkins, Ingram, Ipsen, Keough, King-Barrutia, Lee, McLaughlin, Noh,
Parry, Richardson, Riggs, Risch, Sandy, Schroeder, Sorensen, Stegner,
Stennett, Thorne, Wheeler, Whitworth, Williams
NAYS--None
Absent and excused--Walton
Floor Sponsor - Sandy
Title apvd - to House
04/05 To enrol - rpt enrol - Sp signed - Pres signed
04/06 To Governor
04/17 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 452
Effective: 01/01/01
H0744
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2000
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 744
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO TELEPHONE SOLICITATIONS; STATING LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS; AMENDING
3 SECTION 48-1002, IDAHO CODE, TO CLARIFY WHAT CONSTITUTES A "TELEPHONE
4 SOLICITATION"; AMENDING TITLE 48, CHAPTER 10, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION
5 OF A NEW SECTION 48-1003A, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
6 A NO TELEPHONE SOLICITATION CONTACT LIST ON WHICH IDAHO RESIDENTS MAY, FOR
7 A FEE, REQUEST TO BE PLACED, TO PROHIBIT TELEPHONE SOLICITORS FROM CALLING
8 PEOPLE ON THE LIST, TO IMPOSE CIVIL PENALTIES FOR CONTACTING PERSONS IDEN-
9 TIFIED ON THE LIST, AND TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE
10 DATE.
11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
12 SECTION 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. Idaho residents are being contacted
13 repeatedly in their homes in an effort by telephone solicitors to sell goods
14 or services. These telephone solicitations are continuing to grow in fre-
15 quency. They are often made at times and in such a manner and number as to be
16 disruptive to Idaho's residents and the enjoyment of their home and family
17 life.
18 With respect to residential telephone solicitations, the right of Idaho
19 residents to be left alone in their home is fundamental. This right has not
20 been adequately accommodated by the voluntary pledge of some telephone solici-
21 tors to honor a person's request not to be telephone solicited.
22 Idaho residents should be entitled to take steps to reduce the number of
23 telephone solicitations they will receive. This opportunity should be made
24 available in a cost-effective manner, with adequate incentives provided to
25 ensure that telephone solicitors will honor and respect a person's wish not to
26 be telephone solicited.
27 SECTION 2. That Section 48-1002, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
28 amended to read as follows:
29 48-1002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
30 (1) "Business days" means all days of the week except Saturdays and Sun-
31 days and all other legal holidays as defined in section 73-108, Idaho Code.
32 (2) "Conducting business" means making telephone solicitations either to
33 or from locations within the state of Idaho.
34 (3) "Goods" means any property, tangible or intangible, real, personal or
35 mixed, and any other article, commodity, or thing of value.
36 (4) "Minor" means any person less than eighteen (18) years of age.
37 (5) "Newspaper of general circulation" means a newspaper which holds a
38 second class mailing permit from the United States postal service, has at
39 least two hundred (200) subscribers, is made up of at least four (4) pages of
40 at least five (5) columns, is not produced through any type of mimeographing
41 process, and has been published or distributed within the state of Idaho on a
42 weekly basis for at least seventy-eight (78) consecutive weeks, or on a daily
2
1 basis, which is defined to be no less than five (5) days of any one (1) week,
2 at least twelve (12) months immediately preceding any telephone solicitation
3 done by or on behalf of such newspaper.
4 (6) "Person" means natural persons, partnerships, both limited and gen-
5 eral, corporations, both foreign and domestic, companies, trusts, business
6 entities, associations, both incorporated and unincorporated, and any other
7 legal entity or any group associated in fact although not a legal entity, or
8 any agent, assign, heir, servant, employee or representative thereof.
9 (7) "Purchaser" means a person who is solicited to become or does become
10 obligated to a telephone solicitor.
11 (8) "Services" means any work, labor, help, assistance or instruction
12 wherever provided or performed.
13 (9) "Telephone directory of general circulation" means a directory con-
14 taining telephone numbers of individual residents and/or businesses which is
15 published on a community-wide or regional basis and which is widely available
16 to persons residing in such community or region through free distribution or
17 direct purchase of said directory without the requirement of other purchases
18 or affiliations.
19 (10) "Telephone solicitation" means:
20 (a) Any unsolicited telephone call or facsimile transmission to a pur-
21 chaser for the purpose of asking, inducing, inviting, requesting, or
22 encouraging the purchaser to purchase or invest in goods or services dur-
23 ing the course of a telephone call; or
24 (b) Any communication in which:
25 (i) A free gift, award, or prize is offered, or in which it is rep-
26 resented or implied that goods or services are offered below the reg-
27 ular price of the goods or services; and
28 (ii) A return telephone call is invited or the communication is fol-
29 lowed up by a call to the purchaser by the telephone solicitor; and
30 (iii) It is intended during the course of the return or follow-up
31 call with the purchaser that an agreement to purchase, or a purchase
32 be made.
33 (c) For purposes of this subsection, "communication" means a written or
34 oral statement or notification or advertisement transmitted to the pur-
35 chaser through any means.
36 (11) "Telephone solicitor" means any person who, on his own behalf or
37 through other persons or through use of an automatic dialing-announcing
38 device, engages in a telephone solicitation.
39 (12) "Unsolicited advertisement" means any advertisement offering goods or
40 services which is transmitted to any person without that person's prior
41 express invitation or permission unless an established business relationship
42 exists between the sender and recipient which has not been terminated by
43 either party.
44 (13) "Written confirmation" means a writing that includes the following
45 information: the date of purchase, the telephone solicitor's complete address
46 and registration number, a listing of all goods and/or services purchased, a
47 listing of the price of each good and/or service purchased, the total obliga-
48 tion incurred by the purchaser, and the notice of cancellation as set forth in
49 subsection (2) of section 48-1004, Idaho Code.
50 SECTION 3. That Chapter 10, Title 48, Idaho Code, be, and the same is
51 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-
52 ignated as Section 48-1003A, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
3
1 48-1003A. NO TELEPHONE SOLICITATION CONTACT LIST.
2 (1) (a) Any residential, mobile or telephonic paging device telephone
3 subscriber desiring to be placed on a "no telephone solicitation contact"
4 list, indicating that the subscriber does not wish to receive telephone
5 solicitations, may be placed upon such list by notifying the attorney gen-
6 eral in writing and paying the attorney general an initial list fee, which
7 the attorney general may assess in an amount up to ten dollars ($10.00)
8 per subscriber. The subscriber's notice shall be in a form approved by the
9 attorney general. The subscriber's listing shall be for a period of up to
10 three (3) years, and may be renewed by the attorney general for additional
11 periods of up to three (3) years each, if the subscriber requests renewal
12 and pays a renewal list fee, which the attorney general may assess in an
13 amount up to five dollars ($5.00) per renewal.
14 (b) The first "no telephone solicitation contact" list shall be published
15 on or before June 30, 2001. The attorney general shall thereafter update
16 his "no telephone solicitation contact" list quarterly and provide this
17 list to telephone solicitors upon request and receipt of a list distribu-
18 tion fee, which the attorney general may charge in an amount up to twenty-
19 five dollars ($25.00) per list.
20 (c) All fees imposed pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the
21 consumer protection account and shall be used for the furtherance of the
22 attorney general's duties and activities under this section.
23 (2) Within thirty (30) days after a new "no telephone solicitation con-
24 tact" list has been published by the attorney general, no telephone solicitor
25 shall make or cause to be made any telephone solicitation, as defined by sec-
26 tion 48-1002(10)(a), Idaho Code, to any telephone number which is assigned by
27 a telephone company to a person listed on the "no telephone solicitation con-
28 tact" list as appears in the then current quarterly listing published by the
29 attorney general.
30 (3) Section 48-1006, Idaho Code, notwithstanding, any violation of this
31 section shall subject the person violating the terms of this section to a
32 civil penalty, to be imposed by the district court, as follows: for the first
33 violation, not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500); for the second viola-
34 tion, not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500); for the third
35 and subsequent violations, not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) per
36 violation. Penalties received under this section shall be expended pursuant to
37 legislative appropriation.
38 (4) This section is not applicable to telephone solicitations:
39 (a) To a telephone subscriber's commercial or business telephone number;
40 (b) (i) Where an established business relationship exists between the
41 telephone solicitor and the telephone subscriber; provided however,
42 the established and existing business relationship exception shall
43 not apply between a telephone company and a telephone subscriber
44 under this section unless the telephone subscriber shall have previ-
45 ously consented to receive a telephone solicitation from such company
46 or its agent;
47 (ii) For purposes of this section, "telephone company" means a per-
48 son providing telecommunications services to the public, or any seg-
49 ment thereof, for compensation, by wire, cable, radio, lightwaves,
50 cellular signal or other means. "Telecommunications services" means
51 the conveyance of voice, data, sign, signal, writing, sound, messages
52 or other information at any frequency over any part of the
53 electromagnetic spectrum;
54 (c) By a minor seeking to sell a good or service, pursuant to a telephone
55 solicitation, for a charitable purpose or organization.
4
1 (5) The attorney general shall advise telephone subscribers who register
2 with his office under this section of all self-help measures available to them
3 to reduce unwanted telephone solicitations.
4 SECTION 4. This act shall be in full force and effect on and after Janu-
5 ary 1, 2001.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS10271C1
This proposed legislation amends the Idaho Telephone Solicitation Act. It adds a
new section allowing Idaho citizens, for a fee of up to $10, to sign up for and be
placed on a "no telephone solicitation contact list." The legislation prohibits
telephone solicitors, with exceptions, from calling people on this list and trying to
sell a product, and it also provides penalties for telephone solicitors who
nevertheless do so.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the general fund. The Office of the Attorney General
expects the fees provided for in the legislation will offset expenses incurred in its
administration. The Office estimates that the implementation expenses of this
legislation, including creating the data base, providing for online registration for
Idaho citizens, and creating all necessary forms, protocols, and procedures will be
$130,000. Spending authority would be out of the consumer protection account.
Contact
Name: Representative Ellsworth
Phone: 322-1000
Brett Delange, Deputy Attorney General
334-2400
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 744