H-4096              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1953

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Representatives Jacobsen, Unsoeld, Todd and Crane

Read first time 1/24/86 and referred to Committee on Energy & Utilities.

AN ACT Relating to telephone solicitation in the information age; adding a new section to chapter 80.36 RCW; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that the level of telephone solicitation and the public concern about it has grown to such a significance that regulatory action is warranted.  Until recently, the methods by which telephone solicitation has been regulated have been governed by both legal and technical constraints.  With the advent of the information age, telecommunications technology has become increasingly sophisticated, expanding the performance possibilities of a single residential telephone.  With cognizance of those new technological developments, the legislature by section 2 of this act directs the utilities and transportation commission to develop a series of regulations that would enable telephone solicitors to conduct their business and, at the same time, allow residential customers the option of blocking solicitations.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 80.36 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) "Telephone solicitors," as used in this section, means businesses or organizations that initiate an unsolicited telephone call to a residential customer and conversation for the purpose of encouraging a person to purchase property, goods, or services or for the purpose of soliciting donations of money, property, goods, or services.  For purposes of this section, telephone solicitors include nonprofit organizations making charitable solicitations, but excludes nonprofit organizations engaged in political activity.

          (2) The utilities and transportation commission shall promulgate regulations requiring telecommunications companies, where technically feasible, to provide a service to customers whereby telephone solicitor's calls are diverted to a refusal recording.  The method of achieving this includes, but is not limited to, requiring the telephone solicitor to dial an additional digit at the end of dialing a phone number.  When that call reaches the telecommunications company, if the customer who is being called subscribes to the blocking service, the call is diverted to a recording that states that the called party does not wish to receive the call.  The regulations shall be conditioned on technical feasibility.

          (3) The commission shall make a determination regarding the appropriate cost of this service and who shall bear those costs.

          (4) The commission may adopt regulations to enforce this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     Section 2 of this act shall be known as the intelligent phone solicitation act.