Vermont H 829: An act relating to the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos

Bill Text

BILL AS INTRODUCED H.829
2026 Page 1 of 4

VT LEG #385457 v.2
H.829 1
Introduced by Representatives Cina of Burlington, Arsenault of Williston, 2
Burrows of West Windsor, Critchlow of Colchester, Galfetti of 3
Barre Town, Logan of Burlington, McGill of Bridport, Page of 4
Newport City, Pouech of Hinesburg, Priestley of Bradford, 5
Rachelson of Burlington, Sibilia of Dover, and Tomlinson of 6
Winooski 7
Referred to Committee on 8
Date: 9
Subject: Telecommunications; robocalls; artificial voice; notification 10
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to require a 11
caller who makes a robocall that uses an artificial voice to provide to the 12
person called notice of such use and further requires that the notice shall be by 13
means of an unrecorded, natural voice announcement. 14
An act relating to notification of robocalls that use an artificial voice 15
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 16
Sec. 1. 9 V.S.A. § 2464f is added to read: 17
§ 2464f. ROBOCALLS; ARTIFICIAL VOICE; NOTIFICATION 18
(a) Definitions. As used in this section: 19

BILL AS INTRODUCED H.829
2026 Page 2 of 4

VT LEG #385457 v.2
(1) “Artificial intelligence” means an engineered or machine-based 1
system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit 2
objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can 3
influence physical or virtual environments. 4
(2) “Artificial voice” means a voice that is generated or significantly 5
altered using artificial intelligence. 6
(3) “Automatic dialing-announcing device” means any automatic 7
equipment that incorporates a storage capability of telephone numbers to be 8
called or a random or sequential number generator capable of producing 9
numbers to be called and the capability, working alone or in conjunction with 10
other equipment, to disseminate a prerecorded message to the telephone 11
number called. 12
(b) Notice. Whenever a telephone call is placed through the use of an 13
automatic dialing-announcing device, the device may be operated only after an 14
unrecorded, natural voice announcement has been made to the person called by 15
the person calling. The announcement shall: 16
(1) state the nature of the call and the name, address, and telephone 17
number of the business or organization being represented, if any; 18
(2) inquire as to whether the person called consents to hear the 19
prerecorded message of the person calling; and 20

BILL AS INTRODUCED H.829
2026 Page 3 of 4

VT LEG #385457 v.2
(3) inform the person called if the prerecorded message uses an artificial 1
voice. 2
(c) Disconnection. The person calling, as described in subsection (a) of 3
this section, shall disconnect the automatic dialing-announcing device from the 4
telephone line upon the termination of the call by either the person calling or 5
the person called. 6
(d) Civil violation. 7
(1) A violation of this section constitutes a violation of section 2453 of 8
this title. 9
(2) Each prohibited telephone call constitutes a separate violation under 10
this subsection. 11
(3)(A) A person who receives a telephone call in violation of this 12
section may bring an action in Superior Court for damages or a civil penalty, 13
injunctive relief, punitive damages in the case of a willful violation, and 14
reasonable costs and attorney’s fees. 15
(B) The court may issue an award for the greater of a person’s 16
damages or a civil penalty of $500.00 for a first violation and $1,000.00 for 17
each subsequent violation. 18
(e) Criminal penalties. 19

BILL AS INTRODUCED H.829
2026 Page 4 of 4

VT LEG #385457 v.2
(1) A person who commits a knowing and willful violation of this 1
section shall be imprisoned for not more than 90 days or fined not more than 2
$1,000.00 per violation, or both. 3
(2) Each telephone call constitutes a separate violation under this 4
subsection. 5
(f) Enforcement. The Attorney General shall exercise the Attorney 6
General’s authority and discretion to work cooperatively with other state and 7
federal government entities to identify callers who initiate robocalls to 8
consumers in violation of this section and to enforce the provisions of this 9
section regardless of the location of the caller. 10
Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 11
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2026. 12