Consumer issues

June 18, 2009 -- Citing a story in this morning’s Washington Post, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, today slammed financial industry groups who have expressed opposition to the Obama Administration’s proposal to create an independent consumer financial protection agency.

Dodd is an outspoken advocate for the creation of such an agency, and reiterated his strong support for the idea at today’s Banking Committee hearing where Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified about the Administration’s proposal to modernize the framework of American financial regulation and supervision.    » read more »

Urges Swift Passage in House and Senate

June 17, 2009 -- Congress took a major step forward today to improve the safety of the American food supply. The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved a comprehensive bipartisan bill that, if approved by the full House and Senate, would go far toward reducing the toll of foodborne illness in the United States.

This bill, for the first time in history, specifically directs the Food and Drug Administration to take steps to prevent foodborne illness and assigns resources to begin the job. The bill would make food safety a primary focus of the FDA, not an afterthought as it has been for so long.    » read more »

Cardin Calls On Ag Holder To Aggressively Combat Predatory Lending Practices; Senator also announces July hearing on GTMO detainees

June 17, 2009 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, participated today in the first oversight hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder. During the hearing, Senator Cardin called upon the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate allegations of predatory lending across the country.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- The nation’s largest airlines had a rate of on-time flights this past April that was higher than both the same month last year and the mark posted in March 2009, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 79.1 percent in April, better than both the 77.7 percent on-time rate of April 2008 and March 2009’s 78.4 percent.    » read more »

Energy Efficiency Provisions Will Create 650,000 Jobs by 2030

June 9, 2009 -- Washington, D.C.—The federal energy efficiency provisions included in H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, could save approximately $750 per household by 2020 and $3,900 per household by 2030, according to a preliminary analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The bill provides an important step forward in addressing climate change through energy efficiency and other means of reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gases.    » read more »

Udall: Digital Television Transition Just Three Days Away; Senator Reminds New Mexico Consumers DTV change happens this week

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M. today reminded New Mexico TV consumers that this Friday, June 12, is the day the United States will transition to digital television (DTV). On that day, all full power television stations will stop broadcasting in analog signal and begin broadcasting on digital airwaves. Consumers using antennas or “rabbit ears” to watch free, over-the-air television must obtain a digital converter box or risk losing reception after the transition occurs. Consumers who subscribe to cable or satellite TV, or those with a converter box for their analog TV will continue to receive television signal.    » read more »

Senate Committee Adopts Sanders Proposal on Oil Price Speculation

WASHINGTON, June 9 – A Senate panel on Tuesday adopted a proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to make big oil traders divulge reserves held in offshore tankers to skirt reporting requirements, distort supply records and artificially drive up prices.

As crude oil rose above $70 a barrel and gasoline climbed to an eight-month high, Sanders also announced that he will introduce legislation to require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use emergency powers to stem oil price manipulation.    » read more »

Klobuchar, Nelson Announce Bill to Prevent Carbon Monoxide-Related Deaths; Legislation Would Enact Tougher Safety Standards

June 9, 2009 --Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced legislation today to combat deaths and injuries from carbon monoxide poisoning. The Residential Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act, modeled after successful similar legislation in Minnesota, would require the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to enforce stronger standards to protect people against the deadly dangers of carbon monoxide.

Senators Klobuchar and Nelson serve on the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the commission. Klobuchar and Nelson introduced similar legislation during the 110th Congress.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Herb Kohl today introduced the Antitrust Criminal Penalties Enforcement and Reform Act of 2004 Extension Act. This legislation extends a critical component of the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enforcement and Reform Act of 2004 (ACPERA), set to expire on June 22, which encourages participation in the Antitrust Division’s leniency program.

As a result, the Justice Department will be able to continue to detect, investigate and aggressively prosecute price-fixing and other cartels which harm consumers.    » read more »

Proposes that Fed Adopt "Opt-In" Approach to Overdraft Fees, Preventing Companies from Charging Consumers Without Their Permission

June 9, 2009 -- Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, urged the Federal Reserve to act as soon as possible to protect consumers from abusive overdraft fees. In a letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Dodd called on the Fed to finalize a proposed rule that would curb the use of excessive and unfair fees when consumers overdraw their bank accounts.

Dodd further pressed the Fed to implement an “opt-in” approach to overdraft fees, which would ensure that banks would be prohibited from charging consumers an overdraft fee without their consent.    » read more »

Rhode Island Senator Discusses Legislation to Crack Down on High Interest Rates

June 8, 2009 -- Providence, R.I. - On the heels of sweeping credit card reform legislation recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) met today with Rhode Islanders affected by unfair credit card practices at the John Hope Settlement House in Providence. Whitehouse heard from consumers and small business owners about the impact of high interest rates and other tricks and traps on their families and businesses.    » read more »

June 5, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Working to ensure American telecommunications networks remain on the cutting edge of wireless technology and keep pace with foreign competitors, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) have introduced the Mobile Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2009 to enact a five-year moratorium on new or increased taxes on wireless telecommunications infrastructure and services.    » read more »

Legislation Would Limit Telemarketing Abuse, Provide Redress Against Illegal Debt Collection Practices and Advance Consumer Information Privacy

June 5, 2009 -- New York Governor David A. Paterson today announced that he has submitted three bills to the Legislature to greatly strengthen New York’s consumer protection laws. The legislation focuses on several important areas: telemarketing, sale of sensitive personal information, and debt collection.    » read more »

June 4, 2009 -- Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, today put banks on notice after recent reports of consumers being gouged by increased, excessive and deceptive fees imposed on their bank accounts.

Senator Dodd pledged to work to protect consumers and cautioned the banks against excessive fees and the use of other deceptive practices that unfairly inflate the cost of bank accounts.    » read more »

June 3, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today ceremonially signed LD 844, An Act To Reduce Costs for Customers of Northern Maine Consumer Owned Utilities. The law allows consumer-owned electric utilities in northern Maine to sell their excess electricity.

“Having this ability to sell excess electricity will enable the utility to offset operational costs and thus save consumers money,” Governor Baldacci said. “My Administration has been looking for some time to connect Aroostook County to the rest of the New England grid. In the interim, this is a common-sense way to ensure that utilities in The County can reduce costs to consumers.”    » read more »