The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Rules
BILL: CS/SB 1120
INTRODUCER: Regulated Industries Committee and Senator Gibson and others
SUBJECT: Telephone Solicitation
DATE: April 19, 2021 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Harmsen McKay CM Favorable
2. Sharon Imhof RI Fav/CS
3. Harmsen Phelps RC Favorable
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
CS/SB 1120 requires all sales telephone calls, text messages, and direct-to-voicemail
transmissions to have the receiving consumer’s prior express written consent if the call will be
made using an automated machine to dial the recipient’s phone number or will play a recorded
message upon connection with the recipient.
The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that a sales call made to a Florida area code is made
either to a Florida resident or to a person in this state at the time of the call.
The bill creates a private right of action to enforce the provisions in the bill. An aggrieved party
may petition a court to enjoin the violating party. A prevailing plaintiff may recover the greater
sum of either their actual monetary damages or $500, plus attorney fees and costs. Additionally,
a court may increase damages by up to three times, for a willful or knowing violation.
The bill amends the Florida Telemarketing Act to prohibit telephone sellers or salespersons from
calling consumers outside of the hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. in the consumer’s time zone
and prohibits telephone sellers or salespersons from contacting consumer on the same subject
matter more than three times in a 24-hour period. The bill also clarifies that calls made through
an automated dialer or recorded message are subject to the same prohibitions.
The bill is effective July 1, 2021.
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II. Present Situation:
Unsolicited Phone Calls
Consumers are often inundated with unwanted calls. In fiscal year 2020, the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) received 293,071 complaints from Florida consumers about unwanted
telephone calls.1 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports that unwanted calls
constitute their top consumer complaint.2 Unwanted calls can come in many forms, including
robocalls3, which use an “automatic telephone dialing system,”4 referred to as an autodialer, and
play a recorded message upon connection with the consumer; “spoofing” or “spoofed calls,”
which transmit falsified information to a consumer’s caller ID to disguise the solicitor’s identity;
and unwanted telemarketing calls.5
State and federal action to combat these issues are limited because there are legitimate and legal
uses of this technology. For example, a doctor’s office may legally use a robocall to remind one
of an upcoming appointment.6 Additionally, some solicitors act outside the scope of federal or
state enforcement authority.
Federal Law
Telephone Consumer Protection Act7
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) protects U.S. consumers from
unwanted communications by restricting the use of autodialers, prerecorded sales messages, and
unsolicited sales calls, text messages, or faxes.
The TCPA prohibits telephone solicitations that:
 Are made to residences before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m.;
1
Federal Trade Commission, Do Not Call Data Book 2020 (Oct. 2020),
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/national-do-not-call-registry-data-book-fiscal-year-
2020/dnc_data_book_2020.pdf (last visited Apr. 16, 2021).
2
Federal Communications Commission, Stop Unwanted Calls and Texts (Mar. 2, 2021),
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-calls-and-texts (last visited Apr. 16, 2021).
3
“At the FCC, we use the term ‘robocalls’ to refer not to just prerecorded calls but also autodialed calls, regardless of
whether the call is live or prerecorded.” Stopping Fraudulent Robocall Scams: Can More Be Done?, Hearing Before the
S. Subcomm. on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance of the Comm. on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, 130th Cong. (July 10, 2013) (Statement of Eric J. Bash, Associate Chief, Enforcement Bureau, Federal
Communications Commission) https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-113shrg85765/pdf/CHRG-113shrg85765.pdf
(last visited Apr. 16, 2021).
4
An “automatic telephone dialing system” or “autodialer” is equipment that has the capacity to produce or store phone
numbers using a random or sequential number generator, and to call those phone numbers. 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(1).
5
“Fraudsters have also further exploited caller ID spoofing, which induces the consumer to pick up the phone, while at the
same time enabling the scammer to hide its identity and location.” Stopping Fraudulent Robocall Scams, Hearing, supra at n.
3 (Statement of Lois Greisman, Associate Director, Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal
Trade Commission).
6
Federal Communication Commission, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Report on Robocalls (Feb. 2019), CG
Docket No. 17-59, https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-issues-report-illegal-robocalls (last visited Apr. 16, 2021). See also,
Federal Communications Commission, Stop Unwanted Calls and Texts--Spoofing, (Mar. 2, 2021)
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-calls-and-texts (last visited Apr. 16, 2021).
7
47 U.S.C. § 227. See also, 47 CFR § 64.1200 (2012).
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 Fail to provide the consumer with the solicitor’s identity, including his or her true phone
number via caller identification service,8 and an opportunity to opt out of the current call, and
all future calls, made by that solicitor;
 Send pre-recorded messages to a residential line without the consumer’s prior express
consent;9 and
 Use an autodialer or pre-recorded messages to a cellular, emergency, or hospital room line
without prior express consent. Any telemarketing calls made to a cellular telephone number
require written prior express consent; all others require either oral or written consent.10 This
specific provision does not apply to residential phone lines.11
The TCPA’s protections extend to text messaging in the same manner that they apply to
telephone calls.12
The TCPA defines autodialers as “equipment which has the capacity—(A) to store or produce
telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial
such numbers.”13 The U.S. Supreme Court recently limited the effect of the TCPA by clarifying
that it only regulates autodialers that have the capacity either to store, or to produce, a telephone
number using a random or sequential number generator.14 This limits the TCPA’s regulations to
the now obsolete sequential number dialer style of autodialer, versus the predictive dialing
technology that most businesses use today.15
The TCPA grants a private right of action to pursue actual monetary damages or up to $500 per
violation.16 State attorneys general and the FCC also have jurisdiction to investigate and file civil
claims based on violations of the TCPA.17
8
47 C.F.R. § 64.1601(e). See also, Federal Communications Commission, Public Notice: FCC’s Caller ID Rules for
Telemarketers Become Effective (Jan. 29, 2004) https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-04-206A1.pdf (last
visited Apr. 16, 2021).
9
See also, 47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(7)(i)(B), (b)(3). Certain calls made to a residential line, such as those by a tax-exempt
nonprofit organization or calls that are subject to HIPPA may be made without prior express consent.
10
FCC, 2015 TCPA Declaratory Ruling and Order, 30 FCC Rcd at 7999, para. 4 (Jun. 18, 2015).
11
In 2015, language was added to the TCPA to allow robocalls and autodialed calls to cell phones for the purpose of
collecting a debt owed to the U.S. government. See 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii). This provision was severed from the by the
U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 based on their finding that it was a content-specific speech regulation in violation of the first
amendment. The Court left the TCPA’s prohibition of robocalls and autodialed calls to cell phones intact. Barr v. American
Assc. Of Political Consultants, Inc., 140 S. Ct. 2335 (2020). See also, 47 CFR § 64.1200(f)(8).
12
FCC, 2015 TCPA Declaratory Ruling and Order, 30 FCC Rcd at 7999, para. 2 (Jun. 18, 2015); FCC, FCC Strengthens
Consumer Protections Against Unwanted Calls and Texts (Jun. 18, 2015)
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-333993A1.pdf (last visited Apr. 16, 2021).
13
47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A).
14
Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 141 S. Ct. 193 (2020).
15
Amanda Shanor, SCOTUSblog, Supreme Court Sides with Facebook in Narrowing the Federal Robocall Ban (Apr. 1,
2021), https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/04/supreme-court-sides-with-facebook-in-narrowing-the-federal-robocall-ban/ (last
visited Apr. 16, 2021).
16
47 U.S.C. § 227 (c)(5).
17
47 U.S.C. § 227 (f).
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Federal Do Not Call Program18
The FTC, in concert with the FCC, administers the National Do Not Call Program.19 Telephone
solicitors may not contact a consumer who participates in the National Do Not Call Program,
unless the calls are:20
 Made with a consumer’s prior, express permission;
 Informational in nature, such as those made to convey a utility outage, school closing, or
flight information; or
 Made by a tax-exempt organization.
Truth in Caller ID Act21
The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 protects consumers by prohibiting any person from
transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause
harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value. The FCC investigates and prosecutes violations of
the act under its rules.22 The FCC has taken enforcement actions totaling $450 million in fines, in
recent years against telemarketers for call spoofing violations—of note, the FCC imposed its
largest fine ever against a Florida-based timeshare marketing operation.23
To protect individual privacy concerns, an individual caller may still request to hide his or her
phone number when making a call.24
Florida Law
Florida Telemarketing Act25
The Florida Telemarketing Act (Telemarketing Act), requires commercial telephone sellers,
usually a business entity, and their individual salespersons to obtain a license from the
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (department). An applicant for licensure as a
commercial telephone seller must submit, among other information:26
 Its criminal, civil, and administrative disciplinary background;
 All phone numbers from which the applicant will solicit business and the physical address at
which the phones will be located;
 The script it will use during a solicitation, or any informational literature it will provide to a
consumer; and
18
See, 15 U.S.C. § 6101.
19
Federal Communications Commission, Stop Unwanted Calls and Texts (Mar. 2, 2021),
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-calls-and-texts (last visited Apr. 16, 2021).
20
47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4); See also, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 (2012).
21
47 U.S.C. § 227 (e).
22
See, 47 CFR § 64.
23
Federal Communications Commission, The FCC’s Push to Combat Robocalls & Spoofing, https://www.fcc.gov/spoofed-
robocalls (last visited Apr. 16, 2021). See also, Federal Communications Commission, FCC Fines Massive Neighbor
Spoofing Robocall Operation $120 Million (May 10, 2018) https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-fines-massive-neighbor-
spoofing-robocall-operation-120-million (last visited Apr. 16, 2021).
24
47 CFR § 64.1601.
25
Part IV of ch. 501, F.S.
26
Section 501.605, F.S.
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 A bond, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit to serve as security in any future case of
fraud, breach of contract, financial failure, or violation by the licensee.
As part of their licensure, individual salespersons, who are hired by commercial telephone sellers
to act as their salespersons, undergo a similar review of their criminal, civil, administrative or
regulatory disciplinary history, but they are not required to post a bond, letter of credit, or
certificate of deposit.27
Many solicitors are exempt from licensure under the Telemarketing Act, including religious,
charitable, political, or educational organizations that have a s. 501(c)(3) or (6) exemption from
the Internal Revenue Code; licensed securities, commodities, or investment brokers and dealers;
and newspaper or cable television sellers, among others.28
Licensed telephone sellers and solicitors must identify themselves to the consumer within 30
seconds of the beginning of the phone call.29 To ensure that the department can conduct thorough
investigations, when needed, a licensed telephone seller must also maintain copies of their
business records for at least 2 years—including all of the names and telephone numbers that they
contacted.30
All telephone sellers and solicitors, whether exempt or not, are prohibited from calling
consumers outside of the hours between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., local time, in the called
person’s time zone.31 Additionally, all solicitors must allow their name or telephone number to
be transmitted to the consumer if the equipment they use is capable.32 This prevents solicitors
from “spoofing’ a different number or otherwise blocking their caller identification to induce a
consumer to answer the phone.33
Florida Do Not Call Act
Do Not Call List
The department also administers the Florida Do Not Call Act (also called the “Do Not Call
List”), which prohibits unsolicited phone calls and text messages.34 Residents who do not wish to
receive sales calls may request to have their residential, mobile, or paging device telephone
number included on the department’s list.35
A communication is unsolicited, and therefore prohibited under the Do Not Call List, unless the
contact is made:
 At the consumer’s request;
27
Section 501.607, F.S.
28
See, s. 501.604, F.S.
29
Section 501.613, F.S.
30
Section 501.6175, F.S.
31
Section 501.616(6). See also, s. 501.604, F.S., which provides a general exemption from the Telemarketing Act, “except ss.
501.608 and 501.616(6) and (7).”
32
Section 501.616(7), F.S.
33
Section 501.616(7), F.S.
34
See, s. 501.059, F.S. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Do Not Call,
https://www.fdacs.gov/Consumer-Resources/Florida-Do-Not-Call (last visited Apr. 16, 2021).
35
Section 501.059(3)-(4), F.S.
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 By a charitable or political organization that is seeking donations;
 As part of a survey, or for the purpose of research seeking an opinion;
 In connection with an existing debt or contract for which payment is due; or
 By a newspaper publisher, or his or her agent or employee, in connection with the publisher’s
business.36
Continued Solicitations
Section 501.059, F.S., further prohibits a telephone solicitor37 from calling, text messaging,
sending a direct voicemail transmission, or using automated telephone equipment to contact any
consumer who has previously communicated to the solicitor that he or she does not wish to
receive a telephone call, whether or not he or she is part of the Do Not Call List. However, this
prohibition applies only to calls made by or on behalf of a seller who offers goods or services or
a charity that solicits a charitable contribution.
Automated Dialers and Recorded Messages
Section 501.059(8), F.S., prohibits solicitations via telephone calls, text messages, and direct-to-
voicemail transmissions if the communication is initiated with an automated system that selects
or dials the telephone numbers (autodialer), or if the communication plays a recorded message
upon connection with the consumer. Autodialed calls and recorded messages are permitted if (1)
they are in response to a call that the consumer initiated, (2) the person initiating the call screens