Bill Text: NY S04114 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to prohibiting certain unsolicited political telephone calls; creates a political no call list.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO ELECTIONS [S04114 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S04114-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4114
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    February 3, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections
        AN ACT to amend the election law, in  relation  to  prohibiting  certain
          unsolicited political telephone calls
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new  section  1-108
     2  to read as follows:
     3    §  1-108.  Political no call list. 1. For purposes of this section the
     4  following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a) "state board" shall mean the New York state board of elections;
     6    (b) "no political call list" or "no call list" shall mean  a  list  of
     7  persons  in  this state who do not wish to receive unsolicited political
     8  calls;
     9    (c) "political candidate" shall mean an individual seeking election to
    10  a public office of the state or of a  county,  municipality,  or  school
    11  district at an election in this state;
    12    (d)  "political organization" shall mean any "committee" as defined by
    13  subdivision six of section 1-104 of this chapter;
    14    (e) "public solicitation" shall mean any  request  or  appeal,  either
    15  oral  or  written,  or  any endeavor to obtain, seek or plead for funds,
    16  property, financial assistance or other thing of  value,  including  the
    17  promise or grant of any money or property of any kind or value; and
    18    (f)  "unsolicited  political call" shall mean a telephone call made by
    19  or on behalf of a political candidate or  political  organization  to  a
    20  person  in  this state for the purpose of inducing a public solicitation
    21  or for the purpose of encouraging donations of volunteer time  or  other
    22  consideration to a political organization or political candidate.
    23    2.  The  state  board shall establish and maintain a no political call
    24  list. The state board shall provide notice to the general public of  the
    25  establishment  of a no political call list. Any person in this state who
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02043-01-7
        S. 4114                             2
     1  desires to be included on the no political call list  shall  notify  the
     2  state  board  by calling a toll-free number provided by the state board,
     3  by transmitting a request via electronic mail, United States mail, or in
     4  any  other manner as the state board may prescribe. A person included on
     5  the no political call list shall be deleted from the list within  thirty
     6  days  of receipt of a written request to the state board from the person
     7  to make the deletion. The state board shall update  the  list  not  less
     8  than  monthly  and  shall  make  the no political call list available to
     9  political organizations and political candidates and other persons  upon
    10  request.
    11    3.  A  political organization or political candidate shall not make or
    12  cause to be made an unsolicited political call to  any  person  in  this
    13  state  whose name and telephone number appear on the most recent monthly
    14  no political call list made available by the  state  board  pursuant  to
    15  subdivision two of this section.
    16    4.  A  violation of any provision of this section shall be an unlawful
    17  practice except that a political  organization  or  political  candidate
    18  shall not be liable for a call made in violation of subdivision three of
    19  this section if the organization or candidate demonstrates that:
    20    (a)  the organization or candidate established and implemented written
    21  procedures and trained its  employees  to  follow  those  procedures  to
    22  comply with subdivision three of this section; and
    23    (b)  the  call  was  an isolated call, made no more than one time in a
    24  twelve month period and was made inadvertently.
    25    5. The state board shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to
    26  implement this section.
    27    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    28  have become a law.