State Senate Approves Do Not Call Enforcement

Thanks to a loophole, most Oregonians have felt little protection from the National “Do Not Call” registry.  And after mistaking their state for a city in Washington and mispronouncing it “Or-y-gone” – that’s one of the things that will rile up an Oregonian most. Oh, and transplanted Californians.  And Bob Packwood jokes.

The loophole can be found between state and federal laws.  In 1999, Oregon instituted its on do-not-call registry for the state.  The national law, however, preempted the state’s program unless – and here’s where that loophole lived – the state designated the national list as its own or structured its laws to mirror the federal program.

So Oregon is getting on that.

On Thursday, the Senate voted 20-10 for the legislation, which would restore the investigation and enforcement authority that was in place for no-call violations before the federal list took effect. The bill also would include cell phones.

Senate Bill 117 now goes to the House for consideration.