By Andrew Welsh-Huggins
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - Ohioans who register their phone numbers on a "Do Not Call" list could sue companies for illegally placing telemarketing calls, under a bill up for a vote today by the Senate.

The bill, approved unanimously Tuesday by the Senate Public Utilities Committee, is opposed by marketing companies who say they provide 200,000 Ohio jobs.

Similar legislation died in a House committee last session but may get more support this year because of changes in federal law.

Businesses such as banks, concerned by the potential for a multitude of lawsuits, wanted to remove Ohioans' right to sue from the Senate bill. Under their proposal, only the Ohio attorney general could sue on behalf of consumers.

The GOP-controlled committee defeated that proposal 6-3, with Republicans joining Democrats.

Individuals still would have been allowed to file complaints over illegal calls with the Attorney General's Office, said Sen. Robert Schuler, a Cincinnati Republican who voted in favor of the change.

Sen. Jeff Jacobson, a Dayton-area Republican who voted against it, said the potential existed for lawsuits "to clog the system." But he said removing individuals' right to sue wasn't the answer.

The bill would allow Ohioans to place their names on a state or federal registry of phone numbers that telephone solicitors cannot call.

Companies violating the law could be fined up to $2,000 per call.

The measure would prevent companies from calling Ohioans who put their names on the list. A federal telemarketing law enacted in February would prevent only calls from out of state.

The "effects of this bill would result in higher unemployment rates, higher consumer prices and decreases in tax revenues," Benjamin Harris, president of Fairlawn-based Unicall International Inc., told lawmakers in March. "The constituents in your districts will not forget the reason that they lost their jobs."

The legislation likely has a better chance this year because it mirrors the federal law, said Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican and chairman of the House Civil and Commercial Law Committee.

Seitz said he opposed earlier attempts out of fear of a "patchwork quilt of 50 different state laws" that would create huge problems for companies and individuals.

Under the federal law, consumers will be able to put their phone numbers on the national registry beginning in July. As of October it will be illegal for most telemarketers to call a number on the list.