AG Hunter applauds Congress for passing legislation to reduce spam calls

Attorney General Hunter Applauds Congress for Passing Legislation to Cut Down on Robocalls

OKLAHOMA CITY (December 20, 2019) – Attorney General Mike Hunter today released the following statement, applauding members of both Congressional chambers for passing legislation that will cut down on robocalls.

The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act requires service providers to verify incoming calls are legitimate before reaching consumers, and gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) more ability to impose and collect fines for illegal calls. Violators could be fined up to $10,000.

The legislation is expected to be signed by the president.

Attorney General Hunter said he is encouraged to see this important piece of legislation pass with bipartisan support.

“I commend members of the House of Representatives and the Senate for working together in getting the TRACED Act to the president’s desk,” Attorney General Hunter said. “One of the biggest consumer complaints I hear from Oklahomans is about the volume of robocalls they receive. This meaningful legislation will have a tremendous impact in reversing that trend and will better protect consumers. I look forward to continued partnership with the FCC once the bill is signed into law.”

Read details of the TRACED Act, here: https://bit.ly/2EQIxVP.

Part of the legislation requires attorneys general to partner with the FCC to form an interagency task force to study government prosecution of robocall violation.

The task force will determine how federal law and budgetary constraints inhibit enforcement of the robocall violations; identify existing and additional policies and programs to increase coordination between federal departments and agencies and the states for enforcing and preventing violations of the robocall violations; and identify existing and potential international policies and programs to improve coordination between countries in enforcing robocall violations and similar laws.

Attorney General Hunter has taken several significant steps over the last year to combat robocalls, including working across state lines with his attorneys general colleagues, meetings with federal officials, including FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, and issuing consumer alerts when robocalls target specific areas of the state, among other things.

 According to the call blocking company YouMail, last month alone Oklahomans received 59.3 million robocalls, which is a rate of over 82,000 per hour.