This from Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn:
“In an effort to reduce unwanted, unsolicited phone intrusions which are on the rise, Senate President Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) submitted testimony today to the General Assembly’s General Law Committee on behalf Senate Bill 209, An Act Prohibiting Unsolicited Commercial Text Messages and Increasing Penalties for Violations of the Do Not Call Registry.
“Shady telemarketers are constantly attempting to skirt our Do Not Call Registry”, said Senator Williams. “As technology evolves making it easier to get around the law and employ high-pressure sales tactics, this bill raises the stakes of non-compliance by markedly increasing penalties and eliminates unsolicited sales text messages.”
SB 209 raises fines from the current level of $11,000 to $20,000. Additionally, it establishes a system to increase consumers’ awareness of how and where to make complaints of violations by displaying complaint procedures on phone bills.
SB 209 is part of the Senate and House Democrats joint consumer protection legislative agenda.
Senator Williams also submitted testimony on behalf of several proposals aimed at improving the quality of life for Connecticut residents through a variety of programmatic, consumer protection, and privacy proposals including:
Senate Bill 207, An Act Requiring Home Improvement Contractors and Salesmen to Obtain and Display Identification Badges will protect consumers as well as home improvement contractors who play by the rules and register properly with the state Department of Consumer Protection. ID badges will ensure that, if anything should go wrong on a project, the contractor can be tracked down using the state registration number issued by DCP. Some people unlawfully provide services in the state without proper registration, as required by law. This puts those contractors who play by the rules at a disadvantage.
This problem was highlighted in the wake of recent severe weather events, when some contractors engaged in deceptive practices in order to provide home improvement services to overwhelmed homeowners. Sometimes, “storm chaser” or “fly-by-night” contractors from out of state offer their services at high prices without having proper state registration and with no way for a consumer to verify their credentials. Because these workers travel the country looking for work after natural disasters, they move on quickly and are nearly impossible to track down if a project is incomplete or has a problem.
This bill, similar to a law passed in New Jersey, would require a DCP-issued identification badge to be worn at all times while on the job or while soliciting services. The badge will have a picture, the name of the business, the DCP registration number, and the DCP eLicensing website address where credentials can be verified.
Senate Bill 208, An Act Concerning Pharmacy Rewards Programs and Protected Health Information will help protect consumers’ health privacy. Several large pharmacies now offer prescription drug discount programs which can be attractive to consumers such as seniors facing high prescription drug costs. Most consumers do not realize that when they sign up for these programs they are often unknowingly signing away their privacy rights to their entire medical record, allowing the pharmacy access to a customer’s health history and the right to sell a customer’s personal health information for marketing and other purposes.
This proposal would ensure that if a customer chooses to participate in these discount programs, they understand what they are signing away when they do so. It will require pharmacies to clearly define in layman’s terms – on webpages and other promotional materials – the privacy rights a consumer is giving away by enrolling in the program. It will also require larger typeface and greater prominence of these terms on pharmacy websites and other promotional materials prior to the check-off box for final enrollment in the program.
House Bill 5259, An Act Concerning The Use of Debit Cards for Gasoline Purchases will increase transparency for consumers at the gas pump. Many gas retailers offer a discounted price for payment with cash versus credit cards. Retailers that do offer a cash discount often do not make it clear to consumers whether the use of a debit card is treated by the retailer as a cash or credit purchase. Some consumers may assume that when they are using their debit cards, that they are using cash, and are therefore getting the discounted cash price for the gasoline. In fact, many gas stations treat debit cards as credit cards, under the theory that debit card transactions result in fees, albeit lower than credit card fees. When this practice is not made clear to consumers before they initiate the purchase, some consumers are unknowingly being charged a higher price per gallon.
This bill would place in statute a requirement that the policy regarding debit cards be clearly posted on the gas pump of stations that offer cash discounts. The bill would not dictate what policy the station has to adopt, just that consumers be informed so they can make their own decisions.”