Lawmakers in New York want to impose new penalties on companies and individuals that make unwanted robocalls to residents in the state, including a fine and the ability for individuals to sue those callers.

A bill making its way through the Legislature would prohibit those calls and give new power to the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James to impose penalties from $2,000 to $20,000 against individuals or entities who make unwanted robocalls, excluding emergencies.

It's sponsored by State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, both Democrats from Manhattan. Hoylman said robocalls have been a frequent complaint from constituents, so he took it upon himself to sponsor legislation to try and solve the problem. Plus, like many others, he's had his own experience with constant robocalls.

“Personal experience, reaching the end of my tether from repeated calls and the realization that most New Yorkers have that the federal government hasn't managed to solve this problem so it's up to New York to step into the void and attempt to do it,” Hoylman said.

The bill is about more than eliminating robocalls as a matter of inconvenience. It's also a measure to protect consumers from those callers, who often use robocalls in an attempt to defraud or harass individuals by trying to lure them into a scam or collect a debt, Hoylman said.

“It really does shut down these repeated debt collector calls that happen to certain communities in the state, mostly vulnerable communities get repeated phone calls from debt collectors,” Hoylman said.

The legislation would require telephone service companies to make technology available to consumers free of charge that would block unwanted robocalls. The bill would, as a result, make unwanted robocalls to New York state residents unlawful under the state public service law.

It would also, importantly, provide a private right of action for individuals who want to sue companies or individuals who make unwanted robocalls. That lawsuit would be allowed as a way to either enjoin the entity from continuing to make those robocalls or award any damages that arose from those calls. There would be a four-year statute of limitations on those actions.

“Unwanted and predatory robocalls have long plagued New Yorkers and continue to surge in volume over the past few years,” Niou said. “Robocall scams have also become more advanced, targeting seniors or immigrants in their native language and defrauding them of millions of dollars.”

Hoylman said the legislation would apply to all robocalls made to any device — whether it's a landline or mobile phone. Commercial phone calls, such as those that seek to collect a debt or sell a product, would be immediately prohibited unless the recipient has previously consented to that contact.

But a user may not immediately know that they offered consent at some point if they didn't read the fine print of an agreement, such as a car loan, Hoylman said. The legislation would allow consumers to revoke that consent.

“In the terms of consent, the most common example is a debt collector,” Hoylman said. “Probably in the fine print of your loan agreement, you consented or it could be argued that you consented to this type of contact. So, our bill means that you can revoke that at anytime.”

If a company or individual unlawfully robocalls an individual in New York, the state attorney general's office would be able to impose a civil penalty of up to $2,000 for that violation. If they continue to make those robocalls to the individual, the attorney general's office would be able to impose additional penalties for each call up to a total of $20,000.

The legislation also gives the state Public Service Commission, which regulates telecommunications, discretion to decide what noncommercial robocalls may be allowed to residential lines. It will be up to the agency, for example, to decide if political robocalls should be allowed, Hoylman said.

“The bill prohibits all robocalls both to cellphones and landlines without express consent but allows the PSC to exempt calls to residential telephone lines that are not made for commercial purposes, which could allow political, charitable, or membership calls to be made to landlines,” Hoylman said.

The bill, if passed, would take effect 30 days after it's signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It passed the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee on Tuesday.

READ MORE: