The attorney general’s office questions the constitutionality of a bill for protecting consumers from unscrupulous telemarketers.

The measure is from Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, an Independence Republican. He wants to force telemarketers soliciting money for charities to disclose over the phone how much of what they raise goes to the charities.

Assistant Attorney General Everett Lee Urban says Schmidt’s bill probably is unconstitutional. He oversees enforcement of restrictions on charitable fundraising for Attorney General Steve Six.

Urban says the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a similar law in North Carolina in 1988 on free speech grounds.

The Senate Judiciary Committee had a hearing Thursday but took no action.