Sponsor urges rules to block spoofed telemarketing calls; enforcement questions remain

Representative Timothy Horgan (Stratford County) introduced HB 12 08, a bill aimed at reducing nuisance and scam telemarketing calls by requiring telemarketers to use valid, returnable caller‑ID numbers and prohibiting the use of disconnected or reassigned numbers in caller ID. Horgan said the federal reassigned numbers database (authorized by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act) has been online since 2021 and that many robocall operations spoof local area codes to increase pickup rates.

Horgan described common scam techniques — automated robocalls routed to live agents overseas — and suggested the state law would help target local businesses that contract with dubious lead‑generation firms. Committee members asked whether the Attorney General had reviewed the bill (it had not), whether the proposal would collide with federal law, and how enforcement would work in practice. Horgan said an amendment could incorporate federal TCPA provisions into state law to strengthen local enforcement against businesses that knowingly use spoofed or disconnected numbers.

Members raised practical problems: caller‑ID databases produce false positives that can flag legitimate calls, and overseas call centers pose jurisdictional challenges. The sponsor acknowledged enforcement could be difficult but argued putting clearer state rules on the books would help legitimate telemarketers and consumers. The committee closed public testimony and left open further work on the bill’s interaction with federal statutes and enforcement mechanisms.