A House panel voted Monday to revive an anti-fraud law designed to curb solicitation of motor vehicle accident victims – that’s despite a 2014 ruling finding the measure unconstitutional.
Bill sponsor Rep. Jim Gooch says the 2011 statute prohibited direct solicitation of victims within 30 days of an accident.
"Some people thought that might apply to tow shops, body shops, and those sorts of thing and that was never our intent. So that's really why it was found unconstitutional. So this time we tried to narrow it to where we took care of the constitutional questions," he says.
Gooch argues a handful of bad actors in medical and legal services are contacting victims and referring them to each other services in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage.
Critics contend the new version still won’t pass constitutional muster because it arbitrarily singles out specific professions, such as attorneys, while carving out exemptions for insurance companies.
House Bill 153 now moves to the full chamber.
