New Duckworth-Eshoo Bill Would Protect Student Loan Borrowers from Unwanted Robocalls

Press Release

Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (IL-08) and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (CA-18), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, today introduced consumer protection legislation aimed stopping debt collectors from harassing student loan borrowers with unsolicited robocalls. The Duckworth-Eshoo HANGUP (Help Americans Never Get Unwanted Phone Calls) Act would roll-back a provision of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015--added with little explanation, need or notice--that exempts certain debt collectors from long-standing statutory consumer protections that prevent most unsolicited robocalls to cell phones.

"For more than 25 years, Congress protected student loan borrowers--and all consumers--from being harassed by debt collectors robocalling their cell phones," said Congresswoman Duckworth."I'm disappointed these protections were rolled back behind closed doors, but I'm looking forward to working with Congresswoman Eshoo to restore them."

Section 301 of the Bipartisan Budget Act removed the requirement for a caller to have the called party's consent before making autodialed or prerecorded calls or texts for the collection of debts owed or guaranteed by the federal government. Furthermore, this section could allow robocalls and texts to borrowers' relatives and their references, as well as any unrelated person who has the reassigned cell phone number of these parties. Adding insult to injury, according to the official cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office, Section 301 would have a negligible impact on direct spending over the next 10 years -- an unusual characteristic of an extraneous provision that was presumably included to raise revenue and lower the budget deficit.

"We've all experienced the highly annoying dinner hour robocall with a prerecorded message," saidCongresswoman Anna G. Eshoo. "Phone harassment was stopped by the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, but the provision in the Budget Act of 2015 has rolled back important consumer protections in TCPA. The exemption allows private debt collectors to conduct robocalls and send texts to mobile phones for debt owed or guaranteed by the federal government. The HANGUP Act restores critical protections for consumers by establishing a statutory roadblock to unwanted robocalls and texts."

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)introduced the Senate version of the HANGUP Act. This bill has been endorsed by 25 State Attorneys General, the Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, National Consumer Law Center, NAACP, Americans for Financial Reform, US PIRG, Virginia Poverty Law Center, North Carolina Justice Center, Woodstock Institute and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.

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