Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025
- Bill Number
- S. 2495
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-07-29: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Last Updated
- 2026-04-22T14:02:18Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose
The "Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025" aims to discourage U.S. businesses from moving call center operations overseas by imposing penalties and restrictions on federal funding, requiring transparency in customer service interactions about agent locations and use of artificial intelligence (AI), and ensuring federal contracts for call center work are performed domestically. It seeks to protect U.S. jobs, inform consumers, and promote accountability in customer service communications.
Key Provisions
- Definitions (Section 2): Establishes terms like "call center" (operations handling customer calls, emails, or electronic communications), "relocating" or "contracting call center work overseas" (closing or transferring at least 30% of operations abroad), "employer" (businesses with 50+ full-time equivalent employees in call centers), "customer service communication" (interactions between consumers and businesses), and "artificial intelligence" (machine systems generating outputs like decisions or recommendations).
Title I: Consequences for Relocating or Contracting Call Center Work Overseas
- Notice and Public List (Section 101): Employers must notify the Secretary of Labor at least 120 days before relocating a call center or contracting 30%+ of its work overseas; failure incurs a civil penalty up to $10,000 per day. The Secretary maintains a public list of violators for up to 5 years, with removal possible if operations return to the U.S. with comparable employment or contracts are amended to require U.S.-based work.
- Ineligibility for Federal Funding (Section 101): Listed employers are ineligible for new federal grants or guaranteed loans for 5 years; existing awards trigger monthly penalties (8.3% of disbursed funds), halted disbursements, and potential cancellation after one year. Penalties fund the original program but cannot benefit the violator. Exceptions allow waivers for national security, major U.S. job losses, or environmental harm.
- Federal Contracting Preferences (Section 101): Agencies must prioritize U.S. employers not on the list when awarding civilian or defense contracts.
- Worker Protections (Section 102): Does not affect federal benefits like unemployment or retraining for displaced workers.
- Federal Call Center Report (Section 103): The Secretary of Labor must report to Congress within one year on federal call center work locations, employee vs. contractor breakdowns, and AI-related job losses.
- Domestic Requirement for Federal Contracts (Section 104): All call center work under federal contracts or subcontracts must occur in the U.S.
- Effective Date: Most provisions take effect one year after enactment.
Title II: Required Disclosures in Customer Service Communications
- Location and Transfer Disclosures (Section 201): In customer service calls or messages, agents must disclose their physical location at the start; if abroad, inform consumers they can request transfer to a U.S.-based agent. Businesses using AI must disclose its use and offer transfer to a U.S.-based human agent (e.g., via voice command like "agent").
- Exceptions (Section 201): No disclosure needed if all agents are U.S.-based, for consumer-initiated contacts knowingly to foreign agents, emergency services, or FTC-exempted cases.
- Annual Certification and Regulations (Section 201): Businesses certify compliance yearly to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); FTC issues rules within one year. Requirements apply one year after enactment.
- Enforcement (Section 202): Violations treated as unfair/deceptive practices under FTC rules, subject to FTC penalties, investigations, and remedies; preserves FTC's broader authority.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Introduces mandatory advance notice and a public blacklist for offshoring call centers, with direct ties to federal funding ineligibility—previously, no such centralized list or automatic penalties existed for call center relocations.
- Mandates disclosures of agent locations and AI use in customer interactions, a new transparency requirement not covered under current consumer protection laws like the FTC Act.
- Requires all federal contract call center work to be U.S.-based, amending procurement rules without prior domestic mandates.
- Empowers the Department of Labor (DOL) for oversight and reporting on federal call centers, including AI impacts, expanding beyond existing labor reporting duties.
Potential Impacts
- On Government Agencies: Increases administrative burdens for DOL (list maintenance, reports) and FTC (regulations, enforcement); agencies gain contracting preferences and must enforce domestic work rules, potentially raising procurement costs but prioritizing U.S. jobs.
- On Citizens (Workers and Consumers): Protects U.S. call center jobs by deterring offshoring and penalizing violators; consumers gain clearer information on agent locations and AI, with easier access to U.S.-based human support, improving service quality and trust.
- On Businesses: Large employers (50+ employees) face financial risks (lost funding, penalties) for offshoring, encouraging domestic operations; smaller or compliant firms benefit from contracting edges, but compliance costs (disclosures, certifications) may rise.
- On International Relations: Could strain ties with countries hosting offshored call centers by limiting U.S. business engagement abroad, though waivers for national security mitigate this.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Employers/Business Entities: Primarily large call center operators (e.g., telecom, retail, finance firms) subject to notices, lists, funding restrictions, and disclosure rules.
- Workers: U.S. call center employees at risk of job loss from offshoring; protected via funding penalties and domestic contract mandates.
- Consumers: Individuals interacting with customer service, gaining transparency and transfer rights.
- Government Entities: DOL (list and reports), FTC (enforcement and regulations), federal agencies (contracting and funding decisions).
- Contractors/Subcontractors: Those bidding on federal work, impacted by domestic requirements and preferences.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Relies on existing FTC authority for enforcement (e.g., civil penalties under 15 U.S.C. § 45), treating violations as deceptive practices; introduces clawback mechanisms for grants/loans, potentially leading to litigation over waivers or removals from the list. Civil penalties for notice failures provide straightforward DOL enforcement.
- Constitutional: May implicate the Commerce Clause by regulating interstate and international business activities, but aligns with Congress's power to condition federal funds; disclosure rules could raise First Amendment concerns if seen as compelled speech, though likely upheld as consumer protection similar to truth-in-advertising laws.
- Political: Promotes economic nationalism by safeguarding domestic jobs amid globalization and AI automation concerns; could spark debates on protectionism vs. free trade, with bipartisan appeal (introduced by Sens. Gallego and Justice) but opposition from industries reliant on offshoring for cost savings.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (1)
Recent Actions
- 2025-07-29: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- 2025-07-29: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025 — issued 2025-07-29 — PDF (19 pages)