Bipartisan effort to reduce robocalls

Our politicians can’t seem to agree on much. Sometimes it seems they can’t agree whether the sky is blue. But now both Republicans and Democrats are working together together to solve a growing problem. The problem is unwanted robocalls. In 2018, nationwide, there were nearly 48 billion robocalls made to Americans. In Wisconsin, there were more than 515,000,000 unwanted robocalls last year. That is up from 415,000,000 in 2018 and 283,000,000 in 2019. Wisconsin’s 414 area code received the most robocalls, but the 608 area code received the second most calls. It’s getting a bit tiresome, especially when the number that comes up looks like it belongs to someone you know but turns out to be spam. Unwanted telemarketing calls is the number one consumer complaint in Wisconsin according to the Department of Consumer Protection. At the federal level, President Trump signed a new law in December that increases fines for robocall violations and gives the Federal Trade Commission more time to go after scammers. In Wisconsin, lawmakers are working to ensure state law matches federal law. A bipartisan bill in the state Senate would prohibit the intentional falsification of information that is transmitted to a caller ID if it is done with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value. This bill has not yet passed, but if history is a guide, putting an end to robocalls looks to be a priority for members of both political parties. At least they can agree on that.