1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to telecommunications; requiring telecommunications carriers to offer 
1.3 	services to customers that block calls dialed by an automatic dialing-announcing 
1.4 	device;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 237.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [237.185] CALL-BLOCKING SERVICES.
1.7 	(a) A telecommunications carrier subject to any of the provisions of this chapter 
1.8 	must offer customers one or more call-blocking services.
1.9 	(b) An offer of a call-blocking service by a telecommunications carrier to a 
1.10 	customer must fully disclose the limitations of the call-blocking service, including 
1.11 	the possibility that (1) the service may not be capable of blocking all calls dialed 
1.12 	by an automatic dialing-announcing device, and (2) some calls not dialed by an 
1.13 	automatic dialing-announcing device may be blocked. A customer must certify to the 
1.14 	telecommunications carrier orally or in writing that the customer understands and accepts 
1.15 	the technological limitations of the call-blocking service before the telecommunications 
1.16 	carrier may begin providing the call-blocking service to the customer.
1.17 	(c) To the extent feasible, a call-blocking service must not block a call:
1.18 	(1) the customer has knowingly or voluntarily requested, consented to, permitted, 
1.19 	or authorized;
1.20 	(2) that is immediately preceded by a live operator who obtains the customer's 
1.21 	consent before the message is delivered;
1.22 	(3) from a school district to students, parents, or employees;
1.23 	(4) from a caller who has a current business or personal relationship with the 
1.24 	customer;
2.1 	(5) from a customer's employer advising employees of work schedules; or
2.2 	(6) from a nonprofit tax-exempt charitable organization sent solely for the purpose 
2.3 	of soliciting voluntary donations of clothing to benefit disabled United States military 
2.4 	veterans, and containing no request for monetary donations or other solicitations of any 
2.5 	kind.
2.6 	(d) For the purposes of this section, "call-blocking service" means a service 
2.7 	offered by a telecommunications carrier that prevents calls dialed by an automatic 
2.8 	dialing-announcing device, as defined in section 325E.26, from reaching a customer's 
2.9 	telephone, subject to the exceptions in paragraph (c). A call-blocking service includes 
2.10 	but is not limited to services that:
2.11 	(1) allow blocked callers to leave a voice mail that is heard by the call recipient; and
2.12 	(2) require a caller to enter a code on the caller's telephone that allows the call to be 
2.13 	connected to the call recipient's telephone.

2.14 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment. 
2.15 	Telecommunications carriers subject to this section must make a call-blocking service 
2.16 	available to customers on or before July 1, 2017.