Americans received 2.5 billion robocalls per month in 2025. Existing law is nearly unenforceable — fines exist on paper but overseas operators and shell companies ignore them. The FCC has millions of complaints it can't action.

 

There's a better way: make the carriers pay.

 

When you flag a call as spam, your carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) should be required to impose a per-call backcharge against whoever handed them that call. That carrier backcharges their upstream carrier. The chain continues until it reaches whoever originated the call — and they absorb the full cost with no ability to pass it on.

 

Why this works:

 

A million-call spam campaign currently costs robocallers about $2,000 in carrier fees. Under this proposal, it costs $2,000,000 at base rate — and up to $10,000,000 for high-volume offenders.
Backcharge rate: $2.00 per flagged call, escalating to $10.00 per call for any originating carrier exceeding 10,000 flagged calls in a 30-day window. Volume is the tell — legitimate businesses don't generate 10,000 spam complaints a month.

No new agency. No lawsuit required. You flag the call — the financial penalty is automatic.

Carriers already have interconnect billing relationships. This uses existing infrastructure.
No carrier can exit the California market. What California mandates, the entire national network must accommodate — exactly how California emissions standards became national vehicle standards, and how CCPA became a national privacy standard.

This is bipartisan. Every voter — regardless of party — gets these calls. Senior advocacy groups, small businesses, and consumer organizations all have skin in this game.

 

I am a California constituent and small business owner who receives 10–30 spam calls per day. I have submitted this proposal directly to my state legislators. I am asking you to co-sponsor or introduce this legislation in the 2026–27 session.

 

Sign if you're tired of endless robocalls hitting your phone.