Topeka ? The telecommunications industry prevailed Thursday when the Senate approved its version of a bill requiring telemarketers to follow a list of consumers who don’t want to be called.

The 39-0 vote sent the bill to the House, but some senators said they were voting for the measure to keep it moving through the Legislature and hoped for improvements.

Under the bill, Kansans could sign up for the list by mail for free or through the Internet for $5 through either the Direct Marketing Assn. or the attorney general’s office.

The list would be controlled by the DMA, a private organization, and sold quarterly to businesses. The Attorney General’s Office would forward its names to the DMA. Consumers would be registered for five years, after which they would have to renew.

Companies violating the no-call list would be subject to fines up to $10,000.

In an amendment during debate, senators substituted the industry’s proposal for a proposal that would have created a no-call list controlled by the Attorney General’s Office but compiled by the Information Network of Kansas, which maintains the state’s Web site. Opponents of that plan said it would have cost the state too much money.

“This is a solution that doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t put a stick in the eye of the industry,” said Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita, who sponsored the amendment.

The amendment passed 25-13. Senators who opposed the industry-backed measure said it would be an ineffective way to solve the problem. The AARP, which represents about 350,000 Kansans 50 and older, supports a state list.

Sen. Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, said the Attorney General’s Office still would collect names and try to enforce the law, although the DMA would control the list.

Schmidt said the Attorney General’s Office would be hampered in investigating complaints and suggested that the DMA, headquartered in New York and with offices in Washington, might not even have to answer Kansas subpoenas.

But senators who supported the DMA list said it didn’t create the unnecessary bureaucracy of a state list.

“This is a far superior proposal,” said Sen. Kay O’Connor, R-Olathe. “It is a list that is free except for the cost of postage.”

The House plans to debate a similar no-call bill that would utilize the DMA list next week. Legislative leaders said they expected a conference committee of three senators and three House members to draft the final version of no call legislation.

“It is a long way from being finished,” said Donovan.