The American Association of Political Consultants is stepping up its fight against a slate of bills currently before Congress that aim to regulate political robocalls. The AAPC's "First Amendment Legal Defense Fund" has sent out an appeal for donations to thousands of consultants to help fund what it anticipates could be a long legal fight.  

The letter, penned by Chad Gosselink, of Zata3 consulting, a Democratic firm that specializes in automated calls, raises First Amendment objections to the legislation and outlines the need to "promote the responsible use of auto-calls." 

"More than 20 political consultants -Democrats, Republicans and independents - have come together and spent more than $20,000 to defend these First Amendment freedoms and our livelihood," Gosselink writes. "We need your help so we can continue to fight to keep auto-calls legal."

The letter takes aim at a U.S. Senate bill introduced by California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter. At a recent senate hearing on the bill, Feinstein announced her intention to amend the legislation to make candidates and consultants abide by the commercial do-not-call list. That would make some 150 million phone numbers off limits to robocalls, something consultant Brad Chism calls an affront to the First Amendment.

"However well-intentioned this [bill] is, the bottom line is that it's bad for democracy," says Chism, president of Zata3 consulting. "At a time when the country is hungry for change, a draconian law to limit calls would have a devastating effect on under-funded, underdog candidates."  

Shaun Dakin, who heads the group Citizens for Civil Discourse, says the issue is primarily one of privacy, with thousands of robocalls harassing citizens, and tying up phone lines. Dakin's group has been lobbying lawmakers to sign on a "do-not-robocall" pledge. So far, Dakin has won two congressional converts, North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx and Kansas Democratic Rep. Nancy Boyda. 

Dakin's group also says the AAPC fails to acknowledge that "a voluntary mechanism for both voters and politicians to stop calling could be a viable and strong option." That, he says, is what his group is advocating.  

Dakin recently testified before Sen. Feinstein's committee in support of further restrictions on the calls. Along with imposing the commercial do-not-call list, the senate bill would place limits on the number of robocalls that could go out to a given household per day - no more than two. It would also restrict the time of day the calls could be sent out - calls between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. would be illegal. The bill also mandates disclosure at the beginning of the call, so voters know immediately who is paying for it.   

Some are provisions that industry insiders say can form the basis of legislation they could actually support. In the letter to industry insiders, Gosselink cites disclaimers within the first 10 seconds of the call, time of day restrictions and the ability to opt out of further robocalls from a specific campaign as provisions that "would provide a strong and reasonable framework for federal legislation."

The Senate bill, as well as two bills introduced in the House, was largely spurred by complaints over excessive and late-night calls, as well as complaints from some lawmakers who had calls used against them in campaigns.  

The AAPC is also gearing up for what could be legal fights in a number of states that have passed restrictions on robocalls. More than 10 states have passed some restrictions on automated calls, with some like Indiana banning the calls outright. More states are debating restrictions including New Jersey, Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina where state Attorney General Roy Cooper is fighting to get tough robocall restrictions through the state legislature.

"We need to tell our story and we're beginning that process," Chism says. "We're going to launch a renewed effort to communicate with these lawmakers, many of whom are our clients."

Photo: Getty Images

Below is the text of the AAPC's fundraising letter:

Dear Fellow Consultant,

Hi, I'm Chad Gosselink, Principle of the DC-based telephone firm Zata|3 Consulting. Over the past year or so I have teamed up with many of my competitors and the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) in order to help fight for a common cause.  Like you, we do auto-calls for our clients, and believe in our clients' first amendment rights to communicate with voters.

Unfortunately, these rights have been under fire. In addition to the 20 states considering banning auto-calls, US Senate Bill 2464 (also known as the Robocall Privacy Act of 2008) was  introduced by Senators Feinstein and Specter on February 12^th.  

The AAPC's "First Amendment Legal Defense Fund" has taken the initial step to fight the bans.  So far, here's what we have completed:

• During the spring of 2007 AAPC convened auto call providers to review regulatory and legislative developments at the state and federal levels.  During the calls, we noted that a number of overly sweeping legislative proposals were surfacing in states - proposals that would threaten free speech and create a confusing matrix of rules.

• Several vendors volunteered to form a working group.  This group included John Giesser (Dewey Hub), Marty Stone (Stones Phones), Steve Patterson (Broadnet), Jeff Browne (CapAd).  We were also joined by Rich Schlackman (MSHC Partners, Inc).

The working group met several times and formed a consensus position that we need to act to:

1. Promote responsible use of auto calls and support the prohibition of irresponsible use of the auto call medium
2. Fight overly sweeping legislative proposals that violate constitutionally protected free speech.

The working group drafted principles that, under the auspices of the AAPC and interested auto call providers, would provide a strong and reasonable framework for federal legislation related to auto calls.  The principles included:

• Disclaimers within the first 10 seconds of a call
• A key-press option to opt out of further calls from a specific campaign
• Caller ID
• Time of day restrictions

A separate AAPC group simultaneously selected attorney Bill Rainey of Copilevitz & Canter to challenge certain state laws on constitutional grounds and to provide legal advice on the matter generally

• In November, a delegation from AAPC including Anthony Bellotti, Executive Director of AAPC, John Giesser of Dewey Hub, Marty Stone of Stones' Phones, and Bill Raney met with Representative Zoe Lofgren who was authoring legislation on auto calls. The meeting was informative and positive. The Congresswoman seemed to be considering restrictions on auto calls that were consistent with the principles that our working group supported.  She acknowledged that first amendment issues are important.

• As part of our bi-partisan effort, Wayne Johnson of Johnson, Clark, and Associates, contacted the ranking minority member of the House Committee, Representative Kevin McCarthy, who was also interested in the issue.

• In December, Bill Raney testified before the Committee on House Administration and forcefully made the case for a federal legislation that set reasonable guidelines for auto call providers, protected free speech, and pre-empted state law.  Response to his testimony was positive.

• Bill Raney has followed up with Congresswoman Lofgren's office to maintain a dialogue and offer advice and feedback.

• Senators Feinstein and Specter have together introduced a bill, and our working group looks forward to having a constructive dialogue regarding their bill and Congresswoman Lofgren's bill in the days ahead as we continue to pursue a sensible outcome at the federal level.

In sum, we have forged a consensus position that we should support federal legislation to insure responsible use of auto calls while protecting free speech, drafted principles, communicated those principles on the Hill through meetings and testimony, and are now positioned to work with House Members and Senators who are authoring or pushing bills on this issue.

More than 20 political consultants -Democrats Republicans and Independents-have come together and spent more than $20,000 to defend these first amendment freedoms and our livelihood.  We need your help so we can continue to help fight to keep auto-calls legal.