House lawmakers reach deal on robocall bill

A pair of bipartisan House lawmakers on Thursday unveiled a compromise bill aimed at thwarting the scourge of robocalls dialing up U.S. consumers, about one month after the Senate adopted its own anti-robocall bill.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.) on Thursday announced the legislation, which differs from the Senate’s version on some points but seems to have significant overlap.

What the House bill does: Pallone and Walden’s Stopping Bad Robocalls Act would require phone carriers to implement technology to authenticate whether calls are real or spam. It would also allow carriers to offer call-blocking services. The legislation specifies the carriers should make sure that legal calls, such as those from doctors’ offices or creditors, are not blocked, while opening the door for the government to broaden its definition of what constitutes a “robocall.”

The bill would also give regulators more time to find scammers and push them to ensure companies are not abusing their ability to dial up consumers when they’re allowed to.

It would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to submit reports to Congress on its progress blocking unwanted calls.

“The bipartisan Stopping Bad Robocalls Act offers consumers a way out by ensuring that every call they get is verified,” Pallone and Walden said in a joint statement. “Americans should be able to block robocalls in a consistent and transparent way without being charged extra for it.”