Nixon proposes more changes to no-call list

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is trying for a third year to reduce the number of telemarketers exempted from Missouri's no-call list.

"We are back again," Nixon said Thursday. "No-call is incredibly popular. Make no mistake about it. When people keep calling us, the one message they give us when they call our complaint line is: 'Close the dang loopholes.'"

State law bans most telemarketers from calling Missourians who have put their names on a no-call list maintained by the attorney general's office. But companies can keep calling if they have had contact with an individual in the previous six months, and certain noncommercial groups, such as nonprofit organizations, are exempt from the law altogether.

"When the no-call-list law was passed in 2000, certain interests lobbied very intensely and successfully, I should note, to have loopholes for their industries carved out," Nixon said.

Rep. Rick Johnson, D-High Ridge, has filed a bill that would change many of those provisions. It would prevent telemarketers from using automatic programs to dial numbers, and would replace the six-month exemption with a requirement that the marketer and the individual have a current business relationship.

Prospects uncertain

All 28 sponsors of the bill are Democrats, making its prospects uncertain.

New House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, R-Warson Woods, has been talking about making state laws more open to businesses, and Republicans complained for years that their bills were never heard when the Democrats had control.

What does Hanaway think of the bill's chances for this year?

"It's a major piece of legislation filed by the minority party," she replied with a grin.

Nixon said 616 families joined the no-call list on Wednesday alone. In total, more than 1.1 million home telephone numbers are on the list.

A survey conducted last year by AARP, the organization of older Americans, showed an "overwhelming majority" of respondents favored more restrictions on telemarketers, Nixon said.

AARP state director Joanne Hurst said the organization was supporting the legislation because of its content, not because of a political affiliation.

Many complaints

The attorney general's office has received more than 31,000 complaints about aggressive telemarketers over the past 18 months. But Nixon said his office can't do much about many of those complaints because of what he called "loopholes" in the law.

For the past three years, several bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate to remove some exemptions and widen the scope of the no-call list. Every year, those bills fail.

"Hopefully, the third time is a charm," Johnson said. "We've heard the last couple of days from the new leadership in the House and Senate that this is a very historic time in the state of Missouri, and hopefully the history will include finally closing these loopholes."

Johnson said he thought the bill has a good chance to pass this year because of all the new faces around the Capitol.

"I think this year is the opportunity to do it, with 90 new (House) members. ... Hopefully this is one of those issues that we can break this gridlock," Johnson said.

Last year, similar bills sat on Democratic House Speaker Jim Kreider's desk until the final day of session and were never sent to a committee.