The Pennsylvania state legislature passed a new bill, HR-318, that introduces a number of new restrictions for robocalls. The most notable is that it now extends the state-level Do Not Call List protections in perpetuity. Previously, those protections only lasted for five years unless renewed. Callers will now need to honor any DNC restrictions indefinitely unless the consumer explicitly chooses to opt back in.
The bill’s other restrictions include expressly forbidding solicitation calls on legal holidays, as well as a requirement that robocalls include opt-out options at the beginning of the call.
The bill amends the Telemarketer Registration act of 1996. One of the bill’s sponsors, state representative Lori Mizgorski, said, ““Now with the new registration, you can register one time and it’s permanent. It will also extend the ‘Do Not Call’ list to businesses. On legal holidays, they won’t be able to do the phone calls or make the robocalls.”
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is expected to sign the bill into law.