S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  2559

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 26, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection

AN ACT to amend the general  business  law,  in  relation  to  requiring
  certain  information be provided before placing pre-recorded political
  messages

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision 1 of section 399-p of
the general business law, as amended by chapter 581 of the laws of 1992,
are  amended  and  two  new  paragraphs (f) and (g) are added to read as
follows:
  (d) "consumer telephone call" means a call made to a telephone  number
by  a  telephone  solicitor,  whether  by  device, live operator, or any
combination thereof, for the purpose of soliciting a sale of any consum-
er goods or services for personal, family or household purposes  to  the
consumer called, or for the purpose of soliciting an extension of credit
for  consumer  goods  or  services  to  the  consumer called, or for the
purpose of obtaining information that will or may be used for the direct
solicitation of a sale of consumer goods or  services  to  the  consumer
called  or  an extension of credit for such purposes; provided, however,
that "consumer telephone call" shall not include a call made by a  tele-
phone corporation, as defined by subdivision seventeen of section two of
the public service law, in response to a specific inquiry initiated by a
consumer  regarding  that  consumer's  existing  or  requested telephone
service; [and]
  (e) "telephone solicitor" means a person who makes  or  causes  to  be
made a consumer telephone call[.];
  (F)  "POLITICAL  COMMITTEE" SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS SUBDIVISION
ONE OF SECTION 14-100 OF THE ELECTION LAW; AND
  (G) "PRE-RECORDED POLITICAL MESSAGE" SHALL MEAN A  PRE-RECORDED  AUDIO
MESSAGE DELIVERED BY TELEPHONE THAT IS BY:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD00219-01-5
              

S. 2559                             2

  I. A CANDIDATE OR POLITICAL COMMITTEE; OR
  II. ANY PERSON WHEN THE CONTENT OF THE MESSAGE EXPRESSLY OR IMPLICITLY
ADVOCATES  THE SUCCESS OR DEFEAT OF ANY PARTY, MEASURE, OR PERSON AT ANY
ELECTION, OR CONTAINS INFORMATION ABOUT ANY CANDIDATE OR PARTY.
  S 2. Subdivisions 7, 8 and 9 of section 399-p of the general  business
law  are  renumbered subdivisions 8, 9 and 10 and a new subdivision 7 is
added to read as follows:
  7. (A) NO PERSON OR POLITICAL COMMITTEE  SHALL  DELIVER  OR  KNOWINGLY
CAUSE  TO  BE  DELIVERED  USING AN AUTOMATIC DIALING-ANNOUNCING DEVICE A
PRE-RECORDED POLITICAL MESSAGE OR CONSUMER TELEPHONE CALL UNLESS A  LIVE
OPERATOR  PROVIDES,  WITHIN  THE FIRST THIRTY SECONDS OF THE MESSAGE THE
FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
  I. THE NAME OF THE CANDIDATE OR OF ANY ORGANIZATION  OR  ORGANIZATIONS
THE PERSON IS CALLING ON BEHALF OF;
  II.  THE NAME OF THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION PAYING FOR THE DELIVERY OF
THE MESSAGE AND THE NAME OF THE TREASURER OF ANY SUCH COMMITTEE; AND
  III. ASKS THE RECIPIENT OF SUCH CALL IF HE OR SHE DOES IN FACT WANT TO
LISTEN TO SUCH CALL.
  (B) A COPY OF ALL SUCH SCRIPTS AND SCHEDULES OF SUCH  CALLS  SHALL  BE
FILED  WITH  THE  NEW  YORK STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE
FOURTEEN OF THE ELECTION LAW.
  (C) VIOLATIONS OF THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE PUNISHABLE BY A CIVIL FINE
NOT TO EXCEED TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS PER OCCURRENCE.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.