Another bill, filed by state Sen. Cheryl Jacques, D-Needham, would require callers to state in the first 60 seconds their companies' name and what they're selling. The bill would also create a three-day period for people to cancel telephone transactions. Both bills are supported by Attorney General Thomas Reilly. This is the sixth straight year Straus has filed the legislation, but his bill has never made it out of committee. Yet, that it continues to be an issue on Beacon Hill at all is no surprise, said G.M. Mattingly Jr., director of government affairs for the American Teleservices Association.
Telemarketing is a handy target.
It is unclear whether opponents' money has contributed to the failure of bills aimed at telemarketers. George Pillsbury, director of the Massachusetts Money and Politics Project, said the industries that tend to use telemarketing don't spend a lot of money lobbying Beacon Hill. That industry isn't a big contributor. Mattingly, of the American Teleservices Association, said the association doesn't have a Massachusetts lobbyist. This year, though, Massachusetts could be closer than ever to approving tough restrictions on telemarketers.