Sponsors (4)
The bill tightens and criminalizes enforcement against high-volume unwanted calls and texts—likely reducing robocalls and clarifying rules for enforcement—but it raises criminal liability and public enforcement costs and risks ensnaring legitimate large-scale communicators.
Call recipients (consumers, middle-class families, taxpayers) will likely get fewer unwanted robocalls and spam texts because willful violators can face criminal prosecution and imprisonment for aggravated offenses.
Taxpayers and small-business owners may see stronger deterrence against large-scale automated calling operations because the bill defines high-volume thresholds (>100,000/24hr, >1,000,000/30d, >10,000,000/yr) that trigger aggravated penalties.
Middle-class families and tech workers will benefit from clearer statutory definitions (e.g., 'call', 'initiate') that explicitly cover texts, ATDS-originated voice calls, and prerecorded/artificial voices, making enforcement and consumer protection more straightforward.
Taxpayers and the justice system will face higher costs and expanded court caseloads because the bill shifts certain TCPA violations into the criminal sphere, increasing prosecutions and potential incarcerations.
Small-business owners and tech workers face greater criminal exposure — including imprisonment and fines — for sending calls or texts without consent, even in cases previously handled only by civil penalties.
Small businesses, nonprofits, emergency-alert vendors, and other large-scale legitimate communicators risk being swept up by the bill's high-volume thresholds, creating compliance costs and chilling lawful outreach.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds criminal penalties (up to 1 or 3 years imprisonment and fines) for willful/knowing TCPA violations and defines aggravated triggers based on prior convictions, volume thresholds, intent, or aggregate losses.
Official title: Modify the penalties for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1993.
Introduced December 4, 2025 by Catherine Marie Cortez Masto · Last progress December 4, 2025
Creates new criminal penalties for willful and knowing violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Ordinary willful violations can carry up to 1 year imprisonment and Title 18 fines; aggravated violations can carry up to 3 years imprisonment and fines when certain conditions are met (prior conviction, very large volumes of calls, intent to further a felony or conspiracy, or causing aggregate losses of $5,000+ in a year). Also defines the covered “call” (voice or text to NANP numbers sent by an autodialer, artificial or prerecorded voice without consent or outside an emergency) and “initiate” (send/make/transmit). Makes a conforming cross-reference change in the TCPA and includes attempted numeric/text corrections that appear to be technical rather than substantive.