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Testimony in Favor of 100 Percent Renewable Energy and Electric Vehicle Fleets

Tuesday, July 23, 2019
By | Matt Casale
Director, 21st Century Transportation Campaign

Our testimony, delivered to the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on July 23, 2019, in support of "An act to transition Massachusetts to 100 percent renewable energy" (HB2836 and SB1958) and "An act to promote zero-emission vehicle fleets by 2035" (HB2872 and SB1929). 

House Committee Takes Actions To Clean Up Credit Bureau Mistakes

Wednesday, July 17, 2019
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program

In committee votes this week and last week, the House Financial Services Committee sent a package of credit reporting reforms on to the House floor. It's the first major Congressional action to rein in the so-called Big 3 credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian and Trans Union - and other smaller, specialized bureaus and credit scoring companies, since 2003. The Big 3 national credit bureaus have been the most complained about financial firms to the CFPB for four years running, predating the massive Equifax data breach.

Time to pass the Student Loan Bill of Rights in Massachusetts

Monday, July 8, 2019
By | Deirdre Cummings
Legislative Director

I was joined today by Ryan Powell, a UMASS Boston student and chapter chair of Mass Student PIRG to urge a State House Committee to pass S.160, An Act Establishing a Student Loan Bill of Rights, filed by Senator Lesser.  The bill will protect student loan borrowers from unfair, predatory, and deceptive practices of student lending and loan servicing companies. Read our testimony below.

As CFPB Reviews Overdraft Rules, UK Regulator Makes Pro-Consumer Changes

Wednesday, July 3, 2019
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program

As the CFPB conducts a ten-year regulatory review of the Overdraft Rule established by the pre-CFPB regulators in 2010, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority has announced sweeping changes to address what it calls a "dysfunctional" overdraft market. The US system prohibits overdraft fees on debit and ATM transactions unless you opt-in to fee-based "standard overdraft protection," but the fees average over $32 per overdraft and CFPB has accused some banks of deceptive marketing of the service. Meanwhile, the UK's FCA is banning fixed fee overdrafts and requiring UK banks to treat overdrafts as loans subject to reasonable interest rates. We've asked CFPB to ban overdrafts on debit and ATM transactions.

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