Senate Democrats Join Markey To Oppose Robocall Budget Provision
Senate opposition is growing to the Bipartisan Budget Act’s robocall provision, and Consumers Union is now saying to expect legislation to be filed Tuesday. President Barack Obama signed the two-year budget deal, which includes an entire section on the FCC…
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and spectrum auctions (see 1510270063), into law Monday, after Senate and House passage last week. But Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., intends to introduce, likely by mid-week, what he’s calling the Hang Up Act to repeal a provision of the deal that allows for robocalls to cellphones for the collection of debt owed to the government (see 1510300061). Consumers Union revealed several Democratic co-sponsors who already have signed on to the unreleased legislation in its latest petitioning for supporters -- Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Judiciary Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon. McCaskill and Blumenthal slammed the provision during a Commerce Committee hearing last week, the same day the White House defended the merits of the provision (see 1510280039). “We’re encouraging you to put pressure on your Senators to co-sponsor the bill,” Consumers Union fellow Maureen Mahoney said in a blog post following Senate passage of the budget deal. “It’s crucial that the Senate quickly passes this measure. Otherwise, millions of consumers will be hassled by these soon-to-be-legal robocalls. Even those of you who don’t hold federally-backed debt could be affected.”