Overview
Bill: H 829 (Session 2025-2026, Vermont)
Purpose: An act relating to notification of robocalls that use an artificial voice. The bill addresses the presence and handling of robocalls that employ synthetic or artificial voice technology, with an emphasis on notifying recipients when such calls are received.
Status: Read first time and referred to the Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on 2026-01-29.
Sponsors: A broad slate of co-sponsors including Woody Page, Chloe Tomlinson, Barbara Rachelson, Brian Cina, Gina Galfetti, Phil Pouech, Kate Logan, Laura Sibilia, Monique Priestley, Jubilee McGill, Angela Arsenault, Wendy Critchlow, and Elizabeth Burrows.
Main purpose and intent
- To require or facilitate notification to telephone recipients when the call is a robocall that uses an artificial or synthetic voice.
- To enhance consumer awareness and protection by ensuring people understand they are receiving a non-human-voiced call.
- To potentially improve transparency and enable better consumer decision-making (e.g., opting out, reporting, or avoiding such calls).
Key provisions and changes (provisional outline based on title and typical legislative practice)
- Definition provisions (likely):
- Clarify what constitutes a robocall.
- Define “artificial voice” or “synthetic voice” used in robocalls (e.g., computer-generated speech, text-to-speech voices, or AI-generated voices).
- Notification requirement:
- Mandate that robocalls employing an artificial voice include a clear, conspicuous notification to the recipient indicating the call uses an artificial voice.
- Notification methods could include a spoken preface, a textual disclosure on-screen for devices that display such text, or an audible cue at the start of the call.
- Timing and placement:
- specify when the notification must occur (e.g., at the beginning of the call, within the first few seconds, or as part of the opening message).
- Compliance and enforcement:
- establish penalties or enforcement mechanisms for violations (e.g., fines, civil penalties, or consumer protection actions).
- designate a state agency (likely the Department of Public Service, the Attorney General, or an energy/digital infrastructure office) to enforce compliance and handle complaints.
- Consumer protections and rights:
- bolster the ability of residents to report illegal or deceptive robocalls using artificial voices.
- potential safe harbors or exemptions (such as calls from certain entities or for essential services, subject to notification standards).
- Reporting and data collection:
- require annual or periodic reporting on enforcement actions, complaints, and effectiveness of the notification requirement.
Note: Specifics such as precise notification language, penalty amounts, and agencies responsible for enforcement are not provided in the summary available. The bill would become clearer as amendments are added and the committee staff provides a fiscal note and textual details.
Who/what would be affected
- Recipients of robocalls that use artificial voices within Vermont.
- Callers and entities making robocalls with synthetic voices (e.g., telemarketers, political campaigns, and service providers) who would need to comply with the notification requirement.
- State agencies tasked with enforcement and consumer protection, likely affecting regulatory practices and complaint handling.
- Telecommunications providers and platforms that route or deliver robocalls, which may need to support or monitor compliance.
Procedural and timeline aspects
- House action: Read first time and referred to the Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on January 29, 2026.
- Next steps (typical): Committee review, potential amendments, a committee report, floor debate, and potential passage by the House; if advanced, the bill would move to the Senate and follow a parallel process.
- Effective date: If enacted, the bill would specify an effective date (e.g., immediate upon enactment or a graduated schedule), which is not shown in the summary.
Potential impacts and considerations
- Consumer awareness: Improved transparency about artificial-voice robocalls could enable recipients to make informed decisions about answering or engaging with such calls.
- Enforcement burden: Agencies would need resources to monitor, investigate, and penalize noncompliance; effective enforcement would depend on the final language and penalties.
- Industry adaptation: Telecommunication and calling platforms may need to implement or verify notification capabilities, potentially impacting call routing and caller ID practices.
- Privacy and civil liberty considerations: Notification requirements should balance transparency with avoidable disclosure or mislabeling of legitimate automated calls.
If you’d like, I can integrate the bill’s actual text once available and provide a line-by-line mapping of provisions to the summary above.
