HBA-MPM H.B. 719 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 719 By: Chavez Business & Industry 2/15/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, telemarketing companies are able to block their telephone number so that it does not appear on a consumer's caller identification unit. Testimony presented by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to the Interim Subcommittees on Consumer Fraud and Telemarketing indicated that for the PUC to take action against a telemarketing company for breaching a "no call" order, a consumer must receive a phone call three times from the same telemarketer. However, it is difficult to ascertain if a "no call" order is breached because consumers may be unable to obtain the telemarketer's phone number through their caller identification unit. House Bill 719 requires a telemarketer to ensure that an identifying telephone number appears on a consumer's caller identification unit, unless this is technically infeasible. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 719 amends the Utilities Code to require a telephone solicitor to ensure that caller identification information for the solicitor's lines used to make consumer calls is displayed by a device capable of displaying the identification information, unless the Public Utility Commission of Texas determines that it is not technically feasible. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.