By Davila H.B. No. 2966 75R7352 CLG-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to prohibiting telemarketers from making telephone calls 1-3 during certain hours; providing a civil penalty. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 20, Title 132, Revised Statutes, is 1-6 amended by adding Article 9001 to read as follows: 1-7 Art. 9001. TELEMARKETING PRACTICES 1-8 Sec. 1. DEFINITIONS. In this article: 1-9 (1) "Person" means an individual, corporation, 1-10 organization, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, 1-11 association, or other private legal entity. 1-12 (2) "Telemarketing" means soliciting the sale or lease 1-13 of a good or service by making a telephone call to a potential 1-14 buyer, including a call made by an automated dialing or recorded 1-15 message device. The term includes: 1-16 (A) making a telephone call to generate an 1-17 appointment for a later face-to-face sales visit by either the 1-18 caller or the potential buyer; 1-19 (B) soliciting permission from a potential buyer 1-20 to receive sales literature from the caller; and 1-21 (C) receiving inbound telephone calls for the 1-22 sale or lease of a good or service as a result of any form of 1-23 advertising that induces a potential buyer to make an inbound 1-24 telephone call. 2-1 Sec. 2. PROHIBITION OF TELEMARKETING CALLS DURING CERTAIN 2-2 HOURS; PENALTY. (a) A person may not engage in or conduct 2-3 telemarketing in this state after 9 p.m. or before 10 a.m. on any 2-4 day, including Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday. 2-5 (b) A person who violates this section is liable to the 2-6 state for a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each violation. 2-7 The attorney general, at the request of the consumer credit 2-8 commissioner or on the attorney general's own initiative, may sue 2-9 to recover the penalty. 2-10 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the 2-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 2-15 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 2-16 passage, and it is so enacted.