State Texting & Telemarketing Laws

Last updated July 30, 2026 — statutes and interpretations cited as of that date.

Two things changed the map. First, states spent 2021–2026 passing telemarketing statutes that explicitly cover text messages— often with stricter windows, frequency caps, registration fees, and damages that federal law does not impose. Second, in July 2026 the Seventh Circuit held that texts are not "telephone calls" under the TCPA's do-not-call provision, weakening one class of federal text lawsuit — and pushing plaintiffs' lawyers toward the state statutes instead. The practical result: national texting programs are now regulated fifty ways, and the strictest applicable state sets the bar.

Everything below stacks on top of federal law, which still requires: the right tier of consent for the content sent (prior express written consent for marketing), honoring opt-outs made by any reasonable means within ten business days, respecting the National Do Not Call Registry for telephone solicitations, and the federal calling window of 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.local time at the recipient's location. State law never loosens any of that — it only adds.

Snapshot as of July 30, 2026. Several legislatures are actively amending these statutes, and other states (Arizona among them) regulate texts through do-not-call and consent rules without a full mini-TCPA. Verify the current text of every statute before sending.

Texas — SB 140 (effective September 1, 2025)

Texas amended its Telephone Solicitation Act (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code chs. 301–306) to treat marketing text, graphic, and image messages as telephone solicitations. Unless an exemption applies, soliciting Texas recipients requires annual registration with the Texas Secretary of State — including the filing fee and a $10,000 security — before the first message, and violations carry a private right of action under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act with treble damages for willful conduct, on top of Attorney General enforcement. In November 2025 the Texas Attorney General took the position, in litigation, that programs messaging only consumers who have affirmatively opted in fall outside the registration requirement. That position is informal: evaluate your own registration exposure, and treat documented opt-in records as the asset that keeps you on the right side of it.

Pennsylvania — SB 992 (passed July 12, 2026)

Pennsylvania extended its telemarketing law to marketing texts, voicemails, and ringless voicemail, with compliance due 90 days after signing. Telemarketers register with the Attorney General unless a safe harbor applies — prior express written consent, or an established business relationship within the past twelve months. Its quiet hours are the strictest on this page: no solicitations from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. on weekdays, and none at all on Sundays or legal holidays. Violations are unfair trade practices — up to $1,000 per violation ($3,000 where the recipient is 60 or older) with private suits for actual damages or $100, whichever is greater. The law also bans AI-generated caller-ID deception and neighbor-spoofing by name.

Tennessee — HB 2408 / SB 2659 (effective July 1, 2026)

Tennessee now requires telephone solicitors — including text solicitors — reaching Tennessee residential subscribers to register annually with the Public Utility Commission ($500, due by May 1 each year), observe an 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. window, and face penalties up to $2,000 per violation. The commission reports solicitor conduct to the legislature annually, so enforcement visibility is built into the statute.

Oregon — HB 3865 (signed July 24, 2025)

Oregon folded texts into its telephone-solicitation law and tightened the window to 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m., capped solicitations at three per rolling 24 hours absent an established business relationship (defined as a transaction within the preceding 18 months), and added disconnect and opt-out mechanics for automated dialing systems.

Florida and Oklahoma — the originals

Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act (2021, amended 2023) and Oklahoma's Telephone Solicitation Act (2022) built the template the newer laws copy: texts treated as calls, prior express written consent for automated marketing, an 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.window, a three-per-24-hour cap on the same subject matter, and private rights of action ($500 per violation, trebled up to $1,500 for willful conduct in Florida). Florida's 2023 amendment gives texters a 15-day window to honor a STOP before suit can be filed — which makes fast, logged opt-out handling a litigation defense, not just a courtesy.

Washington, Maryland, Connecticut

Washington reaches marketing texts through its commercial electronic mail act and its robocall statute, with a private right of action for $1,000 or actual damages. Maryland's Stop the Spam Calls Act (effective January 1, 2024) requires prior express written consent for automated calls and texts and closes the window from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Connecticut's telemarketing law reaches texts with its own permitted-hours window and enforcement through the state's unfair trade practices act. None of the three requires registration for ordinary senders — the exposure is consent and hours.

A national program that treats federal law as the ceiling will violate several of these statutes on day one. The resilient design inverts it:

• Consent: collect prior express written consent for all marketing traffic, everywhere — it is the federal marketing standard and the state safe-harbor key in one — and retain the records per the Opt-In & CTA Design Guide.
• Hours:either segment by recipient state and apply each state's window, or run the national floor — 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. recipient local time, weekdays, skipping Sundays and legal holidays. Resolve local time from more than the area code: number portability means a 212 number can live in Los Angeles, and plaintiffs know it.
• Frequency: cap marketing contacts at three per rolling 24 hours per recipient — the FL/OK/OR cap — and log the counter.
• Registration: if you solicit consumers in Texas, Pennsylvania, or Tennessee without a clean exemption, registration is a prerequisite to the first message, not a cleanup item. Budget the Texas security and the Tennessee May 1 renewal.
• Opt-outs:honor STOP immediately and log the timestamp — Florida's 15-day cure period only protects senders who can prove when they processed it.

For how consent and content interact with carrier review on the registration side, see the 10DLC Registration Guide.

This guide summarizes the following primary law. Statutory language controls over any summary here — always read the current enacted text:

• Federal – TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227 and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200; FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 310.
• Florida – Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. § 501.059 (as amended 2023).
• Texas– Tex. Bus. & Com. Code chs. 301–306, as amended by S.B. 140 (2025).
• Oklahoma – Telephone Solicitation Act of 2022, Okla. Stat. tit. 15, § 775C.1 et seq.
• Oregon– H.B. 3865 (2025), amending Oregon's telephone-solicitation statutes (ORS ch. 646).
• Pennsylvania – S.B. 992 (2026), amending the Telemarketer Registration Act.
• Tennessee – H.B. 2408 / S.B. 2659 (2026).
• Washington – Commercial Electronic Mail Act, RCW ch. 19.190, and RCW 80.36.400 (automatic dialing).
• Maryland – Stop the Spam Calls Act of 2023, amending Md. Code, Commercial Law § 14-3201 et seq.
• Connecticut– Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-288a and Connecticut's telemarketing statutes as amended.

Analysis consulted in preparing this summary (verified July 30, 2026): Morgan Lewis on Texas S.B. 140; Troutman Amin on the Texas AG's opt-in position; TCPAWorld on Pennsylvania S.B. 992; TCPAWorld on Tennessee's solicitation law; Troutman on Oregon H.B. 3865; Covington on Washington and Maryland; and TCPAWorld on the Seventh Circuit texts-are-not-calls ruling. Summaries were prepared against these analyses rather than a clause-by-clause reading of each enacted statute; before relying on any specific requirement, confirm it in the current statutory text or with counsel.