They’re cleaner, healthier and often cheaper in the long-term. Tell our legislators to act now to make every school and transit bus electric by 2030.
They’re cleaner, healthier and often cheaper in the long-term. Tell our legislators to act now to make every school and transit bus electric by 2030.
Consumer Protection
New federal bill will make it easier for consumers to know about unsafe, even deadly products
If you had a product in your home that the government knew could cause injury or death, you'd expect the government to warn you, right? Surprisingly, that's not the case for the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The "Safety Hazard and Recall Efficiency Information Act" seeks to change that.
Consumer Protection
The Trump administration's Consumer Bureau just appointed a task "farce" on consumer law
The Trump administration's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just appointed a new task force on consumer law — but according to senior director of PIRG's federal consumer program, Ed Mierzwinski, this task force isn't set up to be on the side of consumers. "It is a task farce," he said.
Democracy
Time tells: Massachusetts' online voter registration program is increasing enrollment.
Massachusetts began its online voter registration program four years ago. Since then, it has become the most popular way to register, accounting for more than half of the registration forms received by the state between 2016 and 2018.
Transportation
12 states just announced plans to transform our transportation system
Transportation is the single largest source of carbon emissions in the U.S.—but Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, D.C., just released a plan to change that, called the Transportation Climate Initiative.
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News & Research
News Release | MASSPIRG
Statement: New Jersey just took a massive step on clean transportation, Massachusetts should be next
New Jersey passed groundbreaking legislation to clean up the state's transportatation system, while similar legislation remains pending in the Massachusetts State House.
Blog Post
In support of a report by colleagues from the Norwegian Consumer Council on whether the data sharing and privacy practices of a number of dating and other smartphone apps were in compliance with European privacy rules (GDPR) or the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), U.S. PIRG and other leading groups sent joint letters to key policymakers, including the California, Oregon and TexaS Attorneys General, the Federal Trade Commission and all members of the U.S. House and Senate.
News Release | MASSPIRG
A new statewide program called Massachusetts SWIG will protect kids from lead in their school drinking water, a growing problem across Massachusetts. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the state treasurer are launching SWIG, which stands for “school water improvement grants,” to provide schools with water filling stations certified to remove lead and provide free water testing for those schools that have yet to test their water.
Blog Post
Last week, CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger appointed four lawyers and professors to a "Taskforce on Federal Consumer Law." To my knowledge, none have worked for consumer protection organizations yet all have worked as industry consultants or been aligned with industry views, although all have previous government experience. I am aware of several distinguished professors with CFPB experience who were rejected. Incredibly, the announcement of this better-described "Task Farce" claimed inspiration from a distinguished bi-partisan commission established by the Consumer Credit Protection Act in 1968."
News Release | U.S. PIRG
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush releases legislation to increase transparency around important product injury and death data.
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