by KYW's Tony Romeo

The federal “Do Not Call” registry is now permanent, and a bill that would eliminate the need to re-register on Pennsylvania’s list every five years has now passed a state senate committee in Harrisburg.

The measure that would keep your number in Pennsylvania’s "Do Not Call" registry until or unless you asked to be removed is sponsored by Republican state senator Jake Corman of central Pennsylvania:

“So this would just make it permanent. There’s no sense in making people re-register. If they don’t want to be on the call list, they have the ability to get taken off it. So it’s fairly basic. Instead of having to re-register, just make the list permanent.”

Corman says he doesn’t know why the original "Do Not Call" legislation required people to re-register every five years:

“I’m not sure. I think maybe because it was the first time we ever put one together, that (we gave it) a five-year window, a trial period. But the five years has come by. We had to amend it, and now let’s just make it permanent -- allow people to get off it when they want and stay on it when they want.”

Even though the federal "Do Not Call" registry is now permanent, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office recommends that people get their numbers on both that list and the state list. In addition to offering double protection, the Pennsylvania list returns part of any fines collected to consumers who file complaints -- up to $100.  So far more than $80,000 has been distributed in that way.