Florida legislative bill could lead to more robocalls

MIAMI - Two years ago, Florida lawmakers passed legislation that help protect residents from those nuisance robocalls.

The law passed in 2021 is called the Telemarketing Act. Now legislation is being proposed that would make big changes, including making all telemarketing calls legal.

Former state Representative Mike Grieco, who was in the legislature when the Telemarketing Act passed, explained what the new bill could mean if passed.

"If you're a Floridian and this bill passes you're gonna start getting spam calls again. I think if you've noticed over the past couple of years, there's been a huge decrease in the number of unsolicited marketing and consumer calls you've been receiving. Whether it's about your warranty expiring or whatever the case may be. But there was a huge drop because there was almost a 50 percent drop in complaints as a result of these calls," he said.

In 2021, the number of Federal Trade Commission complaints from Floridians for unwanted calls was a whopping 388,000. After the Telemarketing Act when into effect in July 2022, the FTC reported 211,000 complaints, a 45 percent decrease.

Grieco said those numbers are proof the Telemarketing Act worked.

So why change it? Grieco speculates this may just be a bill that's already being planned on getting vetoed by Governor Ron DeSantis. 

In:
• Florida Legislature
• Florida