State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_HB0176gms

 
                            STATE OF ILLINOIS
                         OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
                           SPRINGFIELD, 62706

      GEORGE H. RYAN
      GOVERNOR
                             August 10, 2001

      To the Honorable Members of the
          Illinois House of Representatives
          92nd General Assembly
          Pursuant to Article IV, Section 9  (b)  of  the  Illinois
      Constitution  of 1970, I hereby veto House Bill 176, entitled
      "AN ACT concerning telephone solicitation."
          House Bill 176 is a well meaning bill that  is  described
      as allowing residents of Illinois to declare that they do not
      want  to  receive unsolicited telephone calls from businesses
      or other organizations. No one likes  to  have  their  family
      dinner  interrupted  by  calls  from  people  trying  to sell
      products or solicit donations, but House Bill  176  would  do
      very little to rectify the situation.
          House  Bill  176  would  not apply to telephone companies
          until July 1, 2005.
          House  Bill   176   would   not   apply   to   non-profit
          organizations.

          House  Bill  176  would  not  apply  to any politician or
          political organization or  polling  organization  as  the
          definition  of  solicitation  only covers the purchase or
          rental of goods or services.
          House Bill 176  would  not  apply  to  any  company  that
          already has an "existing relationship" with a customer.
          House  Bill  176  would  not  apply  to any person who is
          licensed by the State of Illinois to carry out  a  trade,
          occupation,   or   profession  who  wants  to  set  up  a
          face-to-face meeting.
          In fact, the number of exemptions included in House  Bill
      176  make  it  very  difficult  to identify just which groups
      would be covered by this bill.
          Signing House Bill 176 into law would send  a  misleading
      message to the residents of Illinois.
          People who believe that they should be free from unwanted
      telephone  calls  would  rightfully become angry if they have
      placed their name on the restricted list only to be  bothered
      by  additional,  unwanted  telephone calls. This has been the
      result in other states that have passed similar laws, in many
      cases with fewer exemptions than exist  in  House  Bill  176.
      When asked about their experiences, officials in other states
      have  been  unanimous  in their advice that before a law like
      this is put on the books it should have as few exemptions  as
      possible.  The  alternative is unnecessary hostility once the
      public realizes  that  the  bill  doesn't  deliver  what  was
      promised.
          Some may argue that taking even this small step creates a
      base  that  can  be built upon in future years. I believe the
      result would be exactly the opposite as it  would  be  almost
      impossible to remove any of these exemptions once this law is
      in place. I believe that the sponsors of this bill have their
      heart  in the right place. They used their legislative skills
      to make the compromises that they felt were necessary to pass
      this bill.
 
          However, the end result really is  different  from  where
      this  bill  started and I firmly believe that with more input
      from the general public, the result could be  a  better  bill
      that comes closer to meeting the sponsors' original goals.  I
      considered  an  amendatory  veto  but was concerned that this
      might stretch beyond the permitted legal authority so it will
      be better to start fresh during the next legislative session.
          If members of the General Assembly want to pass a genuine
      "no-call" bill I will be more inclined to sign it  into  law,
      but  until  that  day comes the only fair recourse is to veto
      House Bill 176.
          For these reasons, I hereby veto and  return  House  Bill
      176.
                                             Sincerely,
                                             s/GEORGE H. RYAN
                                             Governor

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