Bill Would Consolidate State No Call List With Federal Registry

A bill would consolidate the state’s No Call List with the federal registry, meaning users would not have to register with the state every two years.

Currently, Wisconsin residents who sign up for the state’s No Call List have to also sign up for the federal list – or risk having the phone ring when they don’t want it to. Sandy Chalmers, who administers the division of consumer protection for the Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection (DATCP), told legislators at a public hearing that she gets a lot of questions about the state’s No Call List.

“There’s enormous consumer interest in this law,” she said. “I’m often asked, however, ‘Why are there 2 no call lists?’ People get that maybe we are paying for something that we could have the feds do at no cost.”

Right now, Wisconsin pays a company in Ohio to manage the No Call List. Chalmers says that $190,000 in savings could be instead be used for enforcement of businesses who violate the No Call Law.

The author of the bill, Rep. Keith Ripp, R-Lodi, says there are other advantages of merging the two no call registries – for example, the federal list is updated more frequently, and consolidating would make for less confusion for people trying to re-register.

Wisconsin’s No Call List began in 2003. There are exemptions, such as calls made for political purposes, like surveys and polls. Nonprofits can also call for donations, and businesses can call existing customers.