The House Financial Service Committee approved the Financial CHOICE Act 2.0 today, signaling the first concrete move to roll back consumer protections and gut the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. [More]
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‘Financial CHOICE Act 2.0’ Rolling Back Consumer Protections Moves Forward
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
New Law Would Ban Airlines From Bumping Passengers Involuntarily
By 4.26.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
United Airlines’ decision to forcibly remove a paying passenger to make room for an airline employee has led to increased pressure for carriers to change their policies. A new piece of legislation wants to stop make it illegal for airlines to bump a passenger without their permission. [More]
Cable Company Sends Refund Check That Bounces, Bills Customer Twice For Service He Doesn’t Have
By 3.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
When Consumerist reader Andy canceled his Time Warner Cable service back in November he expected to get a small refund. But he got more than he bargained for: a bounced check fee, followed several months later by bills for service he no longer had. [More]
Legislation Would Give FDA Mandatory Authority To Recall Drugs
By 2.17.17
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed that it had found varying and elevated levels of a potentially deadly toxin in teething tablets sold under the Hyland’s brand. Despite the dangers posed by the tablets, the FDA couldn’t order a recall of the products — and the manufacturer refused to. But that could change in the future, as recently introduced legislation would give the agency the authority to order mandatory recalls of drugs and homeopathic products. [More]
California Becomes Second State To Raise Smoking Age To 21
By 5.5.16
Starting on June 9, California will officially be the second state — after Hawaii — to bar most people under the age of 21 from smoking, buying, or possessing traditional cigarettes. [More]
Illinois Could Be Next State To Do Away With “Pink Tax” On Feminine Hygiene Products
By 3.10.16
Just a week after five New York women filed a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Taxation and Finance for tacking on sales tax to tampons, Illinois lawmakers have advanced a bill that would exempt feminine hygiene and incontinence products from state sales tax. [More]
California Could Be Second State To Raise Minimum Smoking Age To 21
By 3.4.16
Just days after the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted to increase the legal smoking age from 18 to 21, the state’s Assembly passed a package of tobacco bills, including a measure that would raise the state smoking age to 21 and ban the use of electronic cigarettes in public places where traditional smoking is prohibited. [More]
Bill Requiring Childproof Packs For Liquid Nicotine Heads To President’s Desk
By 1.12.16
The Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act, intended to reduce the odds of kids getting their little hands on tasty-looking – but poisonous – liquid nicotine, appears destined to be the first new federal law regulating e-cigarettes. Yesterday, Congress passed the measure, which now goes to the White House for President Obama’s signature. [More]
New York Lawmakers Call For Legalizing “Hoverboards” As One Explodes In Brooklyn Apartment
By 12.30.15
So-called “hoverboards,” which don’t actually hover, are illegal to use on the streets of New York City. Two lawmakers are trying to change that, but their timing couldn’t be worse, as one of the self-balancing scooters caught fire in a Brooklyn apartment Tuesday. [More]
Say Goodbye To Microbeads: President Signs Act To Ban Microscopic Plastic Particles
By 12.29.15
If your favorite face wash includes tiny microbeads, you better savor it. After playing catch-up with several states, the U.S. has finally passed a measure that would keep the microscopic plastic spheres from going down the drain and possibly into the stomachs of our seafood. [More]
Legislation Would Require Liquid Nicotine Come In Child-Proof Packages
By 12.11.15
Legislation to ensure children aren’t able to get their little hands on tasty-looking – but poisonous – liquid nicotine has made it past one hurdle: the Senate unanimously passed the measure yesterday, indicating widespread support for the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015. [More]
Bill To Ban The Use of Microbeads In Personal Care Products Nationwide By 2019 Passes House
By 12.9.15
With several states and companies passing or currently considering rules to stop the use of tiny microbeads in beauty products, the nation as a whole has been playing catchup. After at least one failed attempt to pass a measure to keep the microscopic plastic spheres from going down the drain and possibly into the stomachs of our seafood, the House passed legislation this week that would ban the use of the products. [More]
Provision In Highway Funding Bill Would Require The IRS To Use Private Debt Collectors
By 11.2.15
While federal regulators continually work to crack down on private debt collectors that utilize unsavory, illegal tactics to make consumers pay up, government agencies often contract these entities to collect a variety of debts. That practice could continue if a provision in the Highway Trust Fund Bill receives approval. [More]
Beauty Products Sold In California To Be Microbead-Free By 2020
By 10.9.15
While a bill that would have prohibited the use of tiny microbeads in face wash and other personal products nationwide died in Congress last year, California didn’t give up its fight to keep the microscopic plastic spheres from entering its waterways and turning up inside the stomach of consumers’ seafood, passing legislation that bans the use of the products in the state by 2020. [More]
National Usury Limit Could Reduce Number Of People Paying Debt Until They Die
By 3.11.09
For about 30 years, there has been effectively no limit on the interest rates lenders can charge. This means some loans—especially payday loans, tax refund anticipation loans, overdraft protection loans, and car title loans—can have effective interest rates as high as 3,500%.
UnitedHealth Unapproves Surgery From 2 Years Ago, Wants $7700 Back
By 4.23.08
United Health Care, not content with merely denying life saving cancer procedures or refusing to pay for basic (covered!) checkups, took things to a new level by retroactively un-approving procedures they paid for in 2005. They sent reader Suzanne a letter and a bill for $7700, claiming the pay-out was an “administrative error”, and she needed to pay up. Check out the details, inside.
House Passes Food Farm Bill
By 7.31.07
Farm policy for the next five years will remain largely the same under a bill passed Friday by the House. The $286 billion measure, H.R. 2419, was approved 231-191. Despite Michael Pollan’s pleas, the farm bill never transformed into a consumer-friendly food bill; though several billion dollars will go towards conservation spending, nutrition programs, and aid to fruit and vegetable growers, a significant chunk of the bill, $42 billion, will fund subsidies to farmers and agribusiness. The Senate is expected to write its own version of the farm bill in September.
