S.7508 / A.9508, Part T

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Senior Director, Government Affairs
518.694.4463

BILL

S.7508 / A.9508, Part T

SUBJECT

Robo Calls

DATE

Oppose

The Business Council of New York State, the state’s leading statewide business and industry association, opposes this legislation that would amend the General Business Law to address the issue of robocalls at the state level partly by mandating telephone service providers to offer free call mitigation technology to telephone customers. 

This bill, while well intended, fails to take into consideration that action is underway at the federal level to address this very issue. As in many cases pertaining to national telecommunications issues, this issue is best left to federal regulators who have the authority and expertise to address any concerns with universal, nationwide rules and regulations. 

The Federal TRACED Act, enacted December 30, 2019, already addresses the issue at the national level. The TRACED Act requires the FCC to undertake over two dozen regulatory proceedings and other agency actions covering a broad range of issues, particularly robocalls. Because of the firm statutory deadlines, key industry and governmental stakeholders at all levels (including the state) will be fully engaged in a wide range of robocall and fraudulent call mitigation efforts. This initiative – not new state programs – will best serve as the effective consumer friendly, board-based, nation-wide effort to attack the problem of robocalls.

For the above reasons, The Business Council opposes this legislation.