The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal ban on almost all robocalls to cellphones remains in effect and government debt collectors must abide by it. Attorney General Derek Schmidt says the exploding problem of unwanted robocalls is one of the most pressing consumer-protection issues Kansans face on a day-to-day basis. The ruling affirms that the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act will remain an important piece of the “all-of-the-above” approach to try to curb the unwanted robocalls, particularly to cellphones.

The dispute arose because in 2015 Congress amended the near-total prohibition on robocalls to cellphones by adding an exception to allow debt-collectors hired by the government to use robocalls. The plaintiffs in this case then challenged the entire law, arguing that the government engaged in content-based discrimination. Schmidt, along with a bipartisan coalition of 32 other state attorneys general, filed a brief in March asking the Court to uphold the TCPA’s prohibition on almost all robocalls to cellphones.