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Media Hit

Clouding Transparency

"...But the truth is that in the land of politics, the voters are the consumers, and all the information in the world is only as valuable as it is accessible."

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Blog Post | Health Care

MASSPIRG urges MA Senate to oppose Rx marketing strategies that increase Rx prices | Deirdre Cummings

MASSPIRG joined consumer groups and health insurers in opposing and extension of RX drug marketing gimmicks that increase cost of Rx drugs and health care overall.  

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health

Anti-public health Farm Bill fails in House

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted down the Farm Bill (H.R. 2) by a vote of 198-213. The bill was loaded with provisions that would have put public health at risk and increased the use of toxic chemicals and pesticides. House Speaker Paul Ryan (WI) has called for a motion to reconsider.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Congress Affirms Need to Stop Debt Trap; Mick Mulvaney Should Follow Suit

Here is our statement on Congress allowing the deadline to pass without repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday lending rule.

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News Release | MASSPIRG

MASSPIRG JOINS CONSUMER ADVOCATES FROM AROUND THE NATION TO MEET WITH CONGRESS TO URGE STRONGER CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTIONS

Washington, D.C. – MASSPIRG joins more than 110 consumer advocates from 36 states around the nation are heading to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, May 9 to meet with their members of Congress for the second annual Consumer Lobby Day and to urge stronger consumer financial protections for ordinary families living in their towns and cities. Of particular concern are efforts to weaken the effectiveness of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and threats to protections against high-cost predatory payday loans that put families in a debt trap.

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Media Hit

Clouding Transparency

"...But the truth is that in the land of politics, the voters are the consumers, and all the information in the world is only as valuable as it is accessible."

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health

Anti-public health Farm Bill fails in House

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted down the Farm Bill (H.R. 2) by a vote of 198-213. The bill was loaded with provisions that would have put public health at risk and increased the use of toxic chemicals and pesticides. House Speaker Paul Ryan (WI) has called for a motion to reconsider.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Congress Affirms Need to Stop Debt Trap; Mick Mulvaney Should Follow Suit

Here is our statement on Congress allowing the deadline to pass without repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday lending rule.

> Keep Reading
News Release | MASSPIRG

MASSPIRG JOINS CONSUMER ADVOCATES FROM AROUND THE NATION TO MEET WITH CONGRESS TO URGE STRONGER CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTIONS

Washington, D.C. – MASSPIRG joins more than 110 consumer advocates from 36 states around the nation are heading to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, May 9 to meet with their members of Congress for the second annual Consumer Lobby Day and to urge stronger consumer financial protections for ordinary families living in their towns and cities. Of particular concern are efforts to weaken the effectiveness of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and threats to protections against high-cost predatory payday loans that put families in a debt trap.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

European government agencies order Claire’s to stop selling asbestos-contaminated makeup products

In the wake of a recent U.S. PIRG study showing that U.S.-based retailer Claire’s is selling makeup contaminated with asbestos, a government agency in The Netherlands confirmed the results of U.S. PIRG’s study. The Dutch Health and Safety Authority (ILT) ordered Claire’s to remove several makeup products from Dutch store shelves after the agency’s lab testing confirmed that there is asbestos in two makeup products.

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Result | Democracy

Winning voter reforms in Massachusetts

MASSPIRG helped win two important reforms to engage new voters and give all citizens an equal opportunity to vote. We fought for and won online voter registration, which allows residents with state IDs or driver’s licenses to register to vote online. We also won early voting, which allows residents to vote 11 business days before Election Day.   

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Result | Democracy

Delivering one million petitions to President Obama on dark money

U.S. PIRG joined a broad coalition to deliver one million petitions from Americans, including U.S. PIRG members and supporters, calling on President Obama to shine a light on dark money, or secret political spending.

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Result | Consumer Protection

30 years of toy safety

For the past thirty years, our sister organization U.S. PIRG Education Fund has taken a close look at the safety of toys sold in stores. Their reports have led to more than 150 regulatory actions. In November 2015, they released our 30th annual Trouble in Toyland report.

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Result | Democracy

Giving more Americans a greater voice in our elections

In our democracy, the size of your wallet shouldn’t determine the volume of your voice. In 2015, we helped win reforms in Maine and Seattle to ensure that more Americans have a greater say in our elections. Seattle’s Initiative-122 empowers small donors with “democracy vouchers” that can be donated to local candidates and lowers the cap on contributions. In Maine, the state’s Clean Elections Act was improved by strengthening campaign finance disclosure laws and offering qualifying candidates increased public funding.

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Result | Public Health

Convincing McDonald’s and Subway to protect public health

In 2015, bolstered by the support of more than 100,000 members and supporters, we convinced both McDonald’s and Subway to take action to protect public health. In March, just two days after we delivered more than 30,000 petitions to McDonald’s headquarters, the company announced that they would stop serving chicken raised on medically-important antibiotics. And in October, after more than 100,000 called on the chain to take action, Subway announced a similar policy for all the meat they serve.

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Electric Buses: Clean Transportation for Healthier Communities and Cleaner Air

Buses play a key role in in our nation’s transportation system, carrying millions of children daily to and from school and moving millions of Americans each day around our cities.

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Budget

Following the Money 2018

Massachusetts received a “B-” for its government spending transparency website, according to “Following the Money 2018: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” the eighth report of its kind.

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Report | MASSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Joint Statement on Eversource Rate Case in Massachusetts

In January 2017, Eversource filed its first complete rate case in many years. After a lengthy proceeding, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued two orders addressing Eversource’s proposals, one in November of 2017 and the other in January of 2018. Despite widespread opposition from parties in the rate case, the DPU approved four major proposals from Eversource that are bad for ratepayers and move us away from a future with consumer control and widespread local clean energy.

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Public Health

In Your Face

The negative health effects of asbestos are well-known. Most people may associate asbestos contamination with the workplace or decades-old construction material, but alarmingly, recent media reports have found asbestos contamination in kids' makeup from popular stores like Claire's and Justice. 

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Plugging In: Readying America's Cities for the Arrival of Electric Vehicles

With electric vehicles (EVs) hitting U.S. streets in record numbers, this new study by MASSPIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group highlights best practices to help local officials make their cities as EV-friendly as possible.

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Blog Post | Health Care

MASSPIRG urges MA Senate to oppose Rx marketing strategies that increase Rx prices | Deirdre Cummings

MASSPIRG joined consumer groups and health insurers in opposing and extension of RX drug marketing gimmicks that increase cost of Rx drugs and health care overall.  

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Budget

Much Progress but Still Long Way to Go on Transparency of Quasi-Public Agencies | Deirdre Cummings

New story in the Boston Globe today found at least 19 "quasi-public" agencies in Massachusetts failed to publish millions of dollars in payroll and spending data on the state's transparency website as required by a MASSPIRG backed 2010 law that mandated the public disclosures. 

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Blog Post | Financial Reform

Over 80 Groups Oppose S.2155 & its Benefits for the Credit Bureaus | Mike Litt

Today, we sent a letter addressed to all members of the House of Represenatives in opposition to S. 2155, or as we call it, the Bank Lobbyist Act. We are joined by 84 other groups and leaders, representing communities, consumers, servicemember, and workers across the country. In particular, this letter explains how the bill benefits Equifax and the other national credit bureaus at the expense of average consumers and our military servciemembers. 

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Blog Post | Public Health

Home remodeling shouldn’t be a deadly project: Toxic paint removers being sold by Lowe’s and other stores | Dev Gowda

No one should lose a loved one to deadly chemicals. But right now you can walk into Lowe’s and other stores and buy paint removers containing highly toxic chemicals.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Legislature Considers Proposals to Preserve Internet | Deirdre Cummings

MASSPIRG urges SH committe to preserve an open internet, preserve Net Neutrality.

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Tools & Resources

  • TELL MCDONALD’S: HOLD THE ANTIBIOTICS
    It’s time the country’s most iconic burger chain stopped serving beef and pork raised on our life-saving medicines.
    TAKE ACTION
  • Tell L’Oréal: Make It Toxic-Free
    Products we use on our bodies shouldn’t contain toxic ingredients that put our health at risk. Tell L’Oréal: It’s time to make toxic-free products.
    TAKE ACTION
  • JOIN THE CALL FOR CLEANER BUSES
    All-electric buses are here, and they’re cleaner, healthier and often cheaper in the long run. Tell our governor to invest in clean, all-electric buses.
    TAKE ACTION
  • LOWE’S: PULL TOXIC PAINT STRIPPERS
    Methylene chloride has killed at least 50 people nationwide, but is still commonly found in paint removers. Tell Lowe’s today: Stop selling paint strippers that put our lives at risk.
    TAKE ACTION

Defend the CFPB

Tell your senators to oppose the “Financial CHOICE Act,” which would gut Wall Street reforms and destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as we know it.

Act Now

Support Us

Your donation supports MASSPIRG's work to stand up for consumers on the issues that matter, especially when powerful interests are blocking progress.

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