(Radio Iowa) – Podcasters and video streaming services caught pumping up the volume on advertisements would face a state fine if a bill that could be debated in a senate committee becomes law. Senator Jeff Taylor, a Republican from Sioux Center, says loud ads do catch your attention. “But not necessarily in a good way, you know, if it wakes up your baby or if you have some kind of a hearing impairment and you have a hearing aid,” Taylor said. “And just, in general, it’s just kind of an irritation.”

Lawmakers are considering changes in the bill, including which state agency would be in charge of taking complaints and conducting investigations. Taylor says his main concern with the bill is figuring out if the state would be able to enforce the policy and issue fines of at least five-hundred dollars.   “I don’t like passing symbolic legislation that gets on the books as law, but really – practically speaking — can’t be enforced well or fairly.”

A federal law passed in 2010 bars television stations and T-V networks from boosting the volume of commercials to levels above the programs the ads accompany. The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation or CALM Act does not apply to radio stations or to online programming.