Telemarketing ‘no-call’ list takes effect July 1

? On July 1, consumers in Kansas will have an option for reducing unwanted telemarketing calls to their homes.

They will be able to sign up for an industry “no-call” list for five years, either by mail for free or through the Internet for $5. The Attorney General’s Office is offering both the mail-in form and a link to the Web site where people can sign up.

A bill signed by Gov. Bill Graves late Wednesday night, would let telephone customers put their phone numbers on a list maintained by the Direct Marketing Assn. and sold to telemarketers. The legislation was a compromise between House and Senate negotiators.

The AARP, representing more than 35,000 Kansans age 50 and older, wanted legislators to create a list maintained by the state. The group will continue to pursue a state list.

“There were a number of reasons the state-managed list didn’t progress. One was uncertainty about the cost,” said John Reinhart, the AARP’s associate state director. “The bottom line is we will continue to push for a state-managed list.”

Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, said the bill would greatly reduce calls to consumers and that he wouldn’t consider changing the law anytime soon.

“If you change the law next year, you’ll never know if the less expensive solution worked,” said Vratil, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman. “I hope the public will give this law an opportunity to work. It will work.”

The cost of a state-run list was estimated to be more than $1 million, which many lawmakers thought was too much, given budget problems that led to a $252 million tax increase.

The new law would not provide airtight protection against telemarketing calls to those who place their names on the no-call list.

Charities could continue to solicit by phone. Also, companies could call consumers with whom they have an “existing business relationship,” created through some kind of transaction a purchase or inquiry, for example during the previous three years.

Other provisions of the law give the attorney general the power to negotiate a contract with the Direct Marketing Assn., and require a free method of getting one’s name on the list.