Floor Vote for

Vote After Roll Call:

Yeas

• Caruso
  05/04/2023 06:02:15 PM
• Duggan
  04/26/2023 02:23:05 PM

Nays

• Rayner
  05/02/2023 04:02:29 PM

Yeas To Nays

• Waldron
  04/26/2023 10:46:27 AM

Explanations of Vote:

• Beltran -
  2021 SB1120 passed both houses unanimously and strengthened citizens’ protections against telemarketers, who reduced their activity in response. Although industry did not oppose SB1120, it claimed a subsequent increase in litigation. In 2022, we worked on HB1095 to clarify the law and prevent any abuse while preserving consumer protection, but industry lobbied against the legislation it originally requested. Neither industry nor the proponents of the bill provided me a single case showing any frivolous claim, despite numerous and repeated requests. In any event, the claims that industry describes are either foreclosed by existing law or would have been cured by 2022 HB1095. The change from “or” to “and” needlessly creates additional opportunities for telemarketers. The change was deleted in civil justice at my behest but reinserted in the commerce committee. New 501.059(10)(c) allows every text solicitor to solicit with impunity until specifically told to stop. Text marketers no longer require consent from the consumer, the onus is now on the consumer to manually opt out as to each individual solicitor as they are solicited, resulting in many more annoying texts. An industry lawyer jubilantly claims this bill changes the “FTSA from among America’s strongest anti-robocall statutes to among the weakest.”