Mixed Signals on Phone Solicitation Bill

Seizing on a populist political issue, Gov. Gray Davis announced his support Wednesday for barring telephone solicitors from contacting people who do not want to be called.

The governor’s office said Davis supports the concept of a highly controversial “do-not-call” bill being debated in the Legislature, but he fell short of endorsing it.

Instead, he at first considered sponsoring his own such bill, aides said, a disclosure that angered fellow Democrat Sen. Liz Figueroa, author of the Legislature’s telephone privacy bill, SB 771.

But several hours later, Davis changed his mind, spokesman Steve Maviglio said. The governor now wants to work with Figueroa on a compromise, he added.

Earlier in the day, aides had said the governor might go so far as to jump in and become the sponsor of Figueroa’s legislation. She guardedly resisted that course, however, concerned that he might take over the bill’s management.

Her bill, strongly opposed by leading national and state businesses, would enable Californians who do not want to get telephone solicitations to register their phone numbers with the state Department of Consumer Affairs for three years.

In turn, the department would sell the regularly updated electronic lists to telemarketers so they would know whom not to call. Violators would be subject to lawsuits and fines of up to $2,000 per call.

Supporters of the bill argue that it would protect the privacy of Californians against unsolicited telephone intrusions by marketers, who often time their calls for the dinner hour.

But businesses denounced the plan as “anti-business.” Among other things, business lobbyists complained that it would prohibit firms from offering new goods and services to existing customers of their affiliate companies and partners.

Further, they say the pesky calls Californians complain of are made by “boiler room” operators who scam customers or offer overpriced bargains.

Figueroa proposed a similar bill in 1999, only to have it die in the Senate. But earlier this week she reactivated the bill in the Assembly Business and Professions Committee, which narrowly approved it over the objections of powerful business lobbyists.

Figueroa said frustration at unsolicited telephone calls had reached a high pitch with California consumers who want relief from the calls. One recent poll found that most people would rather be “stuck in traffic” or “pay taxes” than receive a telemarketing call, she said.

Davis, who has tried to keep himself popular with the California business community, had not taken a position on the Figueroa plan.

Maviglio said Wednesday that Davis supports the concept of the bill, but had not decided whether to support the bill. He said Davis had “privacy concerns” that he wants the Legislature to address but is not certain the Figueroa bill would deal with them. He did not identify them.

Senate Leader John L. Burton (D-San Francisco), a recent convert to Figueroa’s proposal, joined her in criticizing Davis. Burton warned that if the governor proceeded with his own bill, it would not get through the Senate. “We’ve got the Figueroa bill,” Burton said.

During a series of exchanges between Figueroa and the governor’s aides, Davis’ plans appeared to change and then become hard to pin down.

At one point, Maviglio said Davis wanted a “bill that works and that he can sign.” He said that could mean Davis would back the Figueroa program.

“There’s no fundamental disagreement about the end result,” he said. “We may be on the same page; we don’t know yet.”