Newsroom

July 24, 2019

House to vote on bill to stop bad robocalls today

Capitol HillNAFCU's Brad Thaler, in a letter to House leadership ahead of the chamber's vote today on a bill to target illegal robocalls, praised the House Energy and Commerce Committee for its work in crafting a bill that seeks "to ensure consumers still receive wanted, time-sensitive information from their credit unions."

The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (H.R. 3375) was advanced to the House unanimously last week. NAFCU is supportive of the bill's provision requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue regulations on the definition of "autodialer" within 6 months of its enactment.

"Uncertainty with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) due to the FCC's 2015 Declaratory Ruling and Order has led to increased litigation and confusion for legitimate callers, without achieving Congress's intended result in passing the TCPA – stopping illegal calls made to harass or defraud consumers," wrote Thaler, NAFCU's vice president of legislative affairs.

Thaler urged House members to "to engage with the FCC to ensure that such clarifying regulations are promptly issued should H.R. 3375 be enacted."

NAFCU continues to share its concerns related to the definition of an autodialer and the need for clarity under the TCPA to ensure credit unions can contact their members without fear of frivolous litigation. The association has also actively worked with the FCC on efforts to modernize the TCPA for more than three years, and will continue to share credit unions' concerns with Congress.