Legislators in Maine recently fixed a misguided bill targeting "push polls" that could have irreparably biased the results of political polling in the state, heeding testimony from the Marketing Research Association (MRA).
L.D. 412 (HP 278), sponsored by Rep. Janice Cooper (D-Yarmouth), would have required callers to disclose the sponsors of telephone research calls at the opening of the call, if they named a candidate in the run-up to a primary or general election. Such disclosures would have been explicitly required for “telephone calls made for the purposes of researching the views of voters.”
MRA testified at a March 2 hearing before the House Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs, concluding that "it would be disheartening to see Maine hurt the ability to gather and understand public opinion and insights in this way, even as neighboring New Hampshire finally fixed their long-time ‘push poll’ law last year to properly target deceptive advocacy calls instead of bona fide survey research."
At a subsequent work session, the Committee stripped all the operative language out of L.D. 412 that could have impacted polling, amending it to just require sponsorship disclosure for political campaign robocalls (something that is mostly already required in state law). The House passed the bill, but it died on April 30 without Senate action.
About the Author
Based in Washington, DC, Howard is the Insights Association's lobbyist for the marketing research and data analytics industry, focusing primarily on consumer privacy and data security, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), tort reform, and the funding and integrity of the decennial Census and the American Community Survey (ACS).
Howard has more than two decades of public policy experience. Before the Insights Association, he worked in Congress as senior legislative staffer for then-Representatives Christopher Cox (CA-48) and Cliff Stearns (FL-06). He also served more than four years with a science policy think tank, working to improve the understanding of scientific and social research and methodology among journalists and policymakers.
Howard is also co-director of The Census Project, a 900+ member coalition in support of a fair and accurate Census and ACS.
He has also served previously on the Board of Directors for the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics and and the Association of Government Relations Professionals.
Howard has an MA International Relations from the University of Essex in England and a BA Honors Political Studies from Trent University in Canada, and has obtained the Certified Association Executive (CAE), Professional Lobbying Certificate (PLC) and the Public Policy Certificate (PPC).
When not running advocacy for the Insights Association, Howard enjoys hockey, NFL football, sci-fi and horror movies, playing with his dog, and spending time with family and friends.