Wisconsin is joining the national bandwagon against spam, or unsolicited junk e-mails, with two separate pieces of legislation soon to be proposed before the state Legislature.

State Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager announced Friday that she is working with state Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, and state Rep. Joe Plouff, D-Menomonee, on a legislative proposal that would give Wisconsin residents the right to keep spam out of e-mail inboxes.

“Spam or junk e-mails are not only annoying, they can actually cause wear-and-tear damage to computers, add IT expenses to businesses trying to filter them, are often obscene, can slow the computer services consumers are paying for and are not wanted by many Wisconsin citizens,” Lautenschlager said in a statement.

The measure addresses similar complaints of telemarketing calls, including the annoyance of unsolicited messages or promotions.

“Junk e-mail messages are worse than telemarketing calls,” Plouff said. “Too many junk e-mails can be offensive and obscene, and all are unwanted.”

Under their proposed legislation, unsolicited commercial e-mails would be required to begin with the subject line “ADV:,” and senders must establish a toll-free phone line for consumers wishing to be removed from the list.

“Much like the do-not-call list, one of the most popular pieces of legislation in Wisconsin history, the proposal will prevent unwanted, annoying solicitation,” Wirch said.

Lautenschlager’s proposal allows the Wisconsin Department of Justice, individuals or Internet Service Providers to pursue civil damages in an amount equal to $500 for each e-mail sent or $250,000 per day of violation.

A similar measure aimed at prohibiting spam was introduced by state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, in February. Risser said that he could not comment on Lautenschlager’s proposal because he had not seen it. He said his own bill has the same goals and similar means as the legislation introduced last week.

Risser said it is very common for two pieces of legislation that are almost identical to be proposed and passed. Many times, he added, both bills are presented to the governor for him to choose one.

“I think the time has come for [Wisconsin] to pass a bill like this,” Risser said.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the nation’s first federal anti-spam legislation Oct. 23, which prohibits messages that advertise financial scams, bans fraudulent body-enhancement products and pornography e-mails and criminalizes the techniques used by spammers to thwart detection.

Criticism of the federal law stems from its pre-emption of all state anti-spam laws. Risser, however, said he is confident the criticism will not undermine his bill. He added that there are too many loopholes in the U.S. Senate’s proposal.

“I don’t see that it would be a problem in this state,” Risser said. “[My proposed bill] is stronger than the federal bill. I don’t think the federal law is anywhere near as restrictive as the state legislation.”

Wisconsin attempted to enact a no-spam law during the last legislative session, but it did not pass. Risser, the author of the last anti-spam bill, said it did not pass because it was introduced too late in the session, and less than 20 percent of all the bills proposed actually pass.

After its introduction, Risser’s bill was sent to the Committee on Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy. It still awaits a hearing date.