Fresh on the heels of the latest TCPAWorld report, leaders of Congressional efforts to craft compromise robocall legislation announced late Friday an “agreement in principle” on the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act.

The text of the combination of the US Senate-passed TRACED Act and the House of Representatives-passed Stopping Bad Robocalls Act was not released, but the Senate and House leaders of the Congressional efforts stated that they looked forward to “finalizing the bill text in the coming days.”

In making the announcement, the leaders stated that, “the bills will be merged and reconciled as part of the agreement in principle.” Reportedly, the compromise will use the TRACED Act as a “vehicle” for the combination.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce release stated:

“‘Today, we are proud to announce that we have come to an agreement in principle on legislation, the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, to combat the robocall epidemic that we believe can be signed into law by the President,’ the six House and Senate leaders said. “‘It’s time to put Americans back in charge of their phones. Our agreement will require telephone carriers to verify calls and allow robocalls to be blocked in a consistent and transparent way, all at no extra charge to consumers. The agreement also gives the FCC and law enforcement the ability to quickly go after scammers.’”

At this point, Congress is not likely to adjourn until just before Christmas. So, depending on how quickly the final language is hammered out and finally approved by both bodies, a bill could be sent to the President before the legislators leave until next year. 

TCPAWorld will report and analyze the final result of Congressional negotiations and what the legislation will mean for all TCPA stakeholders.

Stay tuned.