North Carolinians could stop more telemarketing calls under a bill that won preliminary legislative approval Tuesday.

The vote by the Senate Commerce Committee is another victory for consumers weary of asking telemarketers to remove their names from call lists. The bill follows a federal move to let consumers register to halt sales calls.

The national registry, set to start this fall, exempts calls from banks, insurers, airlines, phone providers and cable companies as well as businesses inside the state where a consumer lives.

North Carolina's no-call registry bill, as currently written, would close those loopholes.

It would still exempt charities, businesses with fewer than 10 employees and companies that consumers have done business with during the past 18 months.

Consumers signing up for the N.C. list would see their telemarketing calls slashed by 60 percent to 90 percent, experts and regulators estimate.

"They're invading your privacy and your time," said Dennis Saunders of Charlotte, who gets up to four sales calls during the dinner hour. "(The registry) will end a lot of hang-ups and a lot of interruptions. I wish it were here now."

Thirty-two states either have passed or introduced no-call legislation. S.C. lawmakers are not expected to consider a no-call bill this year.

The N.C. bill is expected to go before the full Senate this week.

The bill is similar to a compromise that ended opposition by most business groups last year. It has yet to be introduced in the House.

The bill will allow consumers to stop calls by contacting the Federal Trade Commission.

Consumers who sign up for the national registry will join the state list automatically, N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper said. Telemarketers are required to get an updated list from the FTC every three months.

Sign-up for the national registry should start in early July and participants should see calls start to level off by early October. Registration by phone or Web will be free.

Details have not been announced.

Companies that break the N.C. law face fines up to $5,000 for each violation. Consumers also can file lawsuits in their home counties.

Enforcement could be stiff considering the large number of people who complain about telemarketing calls, said Kiki Dunton, staff attorney for the N.C. Public Interest Research Group.

"Now that the federal government has taken steps ... there's two watchdogs out there," she said.

Telemarketers say they prefer existing methods to reduce unwanted calls, such as a registry run by a trade group. But they accept no-call legislation.

"It's good for people so they don't keep getting harassed from phone calls," said Kevin Hovey, who owns Mailing Solutions Plus, a Mooresville telemarketer. "It's not good from my perspective, (but) we need to conform to what the law says."