Congressional Committee to Hear TCPA Reform Legislation

The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology announced late last Friday that it has scheduled a hearing on H.R. 3035, The Mobile Informational Call Act. The hearing will be held this coming Friday, Nov. 4, at 9 a.m. Eastern.

According to ACA International, H.R. 3035 will modernize the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) 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.

The bill was introduced in the House on Sept. 22, 2011, sponsored by Reps. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.). A few days prior to the bill’s introduction, President Obama released a plan for economic growth and deficit reduction, which urged similar revisions to the Communications Act of 1934 to facilitate collection of debts owed to or guaranteed by the federal government by allowing contact with consumers on their cell phones.

Now that H.R. 3035 has been introduced in the House, and has been referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, it is important that supporters urge their Members of Congress to support the legislation. ACA is urging members to visit their Legislative Action Center to communicate support for the reform legislation.