Topics in this issue: New Report Highlights Consumer Risks and Regulatory Gaps in “Buy Now, Pay Later” Services Federal Agencies Continue the Fight Against Junk Fees By Insuring Coal Mines, Insurance Companies Are Profiting from the Climate Crisis and Then Foisting These Costs onto Consumers Voluntary Window Covering Safety Standard Fails to Protect Children Guest … Continued
Climate change impacts Americans both directly and indirectly. Over the past year, homeowners and businesses have felt the effects of climate change on their wallets when they open up their insurance bills. The nation’s (and planet’s) growing exposure to catastrophic, climate-driven risks is leading to rising homeowners insurance premiums, reduced availability of insurance in many … Continued
Photo by Matt Brown on Unsplash A recent court decision is a safety setback for children and families. Despite decades old knowledge about the serious risk window coverings pose to the lives of children, the industry continues to deploy obstructive tactics. As a result, unsafe custom window coverings continue to present a serious risk to … Continued
Today, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is giving a big shout-out for Energy Efficiency Day calling on Americans to be proactive by taking positive steps to be more energy efficient. Consider joining CFA and the hundreds of other organizations, cities, businesses, and individuals in the nationwide effort to become more energy independent, improve the … Continued
Recently the Biden Administration released an analysis of manufacturing in the United States. Increases in so-called “advanced manufacturing” investments—the creation or expansion of factories making things like semiconductors and renewable energy technology—accounted for the bulk of the growth. According to the Administration, this growth shows that recent tax breaks and other incentives passed by Congress … Continued
Next month, on September 12th, Consumer Federation of America will host the 46th Annual National Food Policy Conference. It will be my seventh year working to organize the event as CFA’s Director of Food Policy, and the task feels more important than ever. I have always enjoyed putting together the National Food Policy Conference each … Continued
Tips for Saving Money on Your Auto Insurance Life Hack for Saving Time: Pass the FTC’s Auto Dealer Rule Department of Labor ERISA Council Must Protect Retirees and Workers Pensions CFA Report Shows That Real Estate Agent Glut Harms Both Industry and Consumers Tips for Saving Money on Your Auto Insurance By: Michael Delong, Research … Continued
Auto insurance is an interesting product: we are all required to have it if we own a car, but we hope never to have to use it, and we try not to think about it. But as insurance premiums continue to skyrocket, it has probably been on your mind more. Even though we can face … Continued
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sells its Motor Vehicle Dealer Rule short when it estimates that consumers will only save $30 billion over ten years. The $30 billion number is the dollar equivalent of the time savings (on average: 3 hours per transaction) for consumers because the rule would prohibit dealers from advertising deals that … Continued
An Analysis of OHV Recalls: Increasing Number of OHVs Pulled from Market due to Safety Concerns A Consumer Federation of America (CFA) analysis of off highway vehicle (OHV) recalls found that from January 2010 to July 14, 2023, there have been 175 OHV recalls, and the number of recalls per year has increased from two … Continued
Susan Grant to Retire After 15 Years as CFA’s Privacy Advocate For the Good of Consumers, Ireland’s Alcohol Health Labeling Law Should Be Respected Consumer Federation of America Supports Consumer Product Safety Commission Against Unwarranted Attacks Consumer Groups Urge Congress to Support the PAID Act Florida Student Privacy Bill Bans Educational Apps from Selling Data … Continued
Attacks from regulated industries and some lawmakers are threatening the important work of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The attacks against the CPSC are consistent with other efforts to weaken the federal agencies that protect consumers and workers. CFA, with its long history of fighting for consumer protections, supports the CPSC and its critical … Continued
What do international trade agreements have to do with consumer protections? Increasingly, the answer seems to be “too much.” Recently, the United States joined Mexico and the Dominican Republic in challenging Ireland’s regulation of alcoholic beverage labeling in the World Trade Organization. The new Irish law would require alcoholic beverage labels to disclose calories, the … Continued
You know that something is scary when the businesses that have created it ask Congress to regulate it, as they did in a recent Senate subcommittee hearing on artificial intelligence (AI). AI is the ability of computers to use the intellectual processes characteristic of humans to perform tasks. A subset, “generative AI,” is a class … Continued
The Next Consumer Protection Front: Artificial Intelligence Auto Sales, Leases and Repair Remains Top Consumer Complaint for Seventh Year in a Row Deregulatory Agenda on Display in House Committee Markup is Anti-Investor and Anti-Consumer Consumer Advocates, Agencies, and State Regulators Come Together for CFA’s 57th Annual Consumer Assembly Overview: CFA’s 51st Annual Awards Celebration The … Continued
On April 26, the House Committee on Financial Services conducted a “mega” markup to consider dozens of anti-investor/anti-consumer bills. Many of the bills considered aim to further expand private capital markets at the expense of our public capital markets and to expand the pool of investors that can be sold private securities without the protections … Continued
In the Face of FDA Inaction on Harmful Food Dyes, California Offers Hope of Protecting Consumers The Revolving Door: How a Florida Insurance Commissioner is Going on a Lucrative Career as an Insurance Lobbyist — Likely at the Expense of Consumers Rock n’ Play Recall Demonstrates How Secrecy Provision of Law Hides Product Dangers from … Continued
The Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to find recalled Rock n’ Play sleepers listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace, despite representations from Meta, Facebook Marketplace’s owner, that it would take steps to prevent the re-sell of recalled products on its platform. In his second letter to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric … Continued
The fifty-one state Insurance Departments are responsible for regulating insurance, protecting consumers, and making sure that insurance rates are not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory. Some commissioners are determined to help consumers. Others, less so. Some regulators seem to treat their time in government as a slow-moving job interview for a high-paying positions with the … Continued
For far too many parents, navigating the food system feels like traversing a minefield. CFA is working to address one source of this anxiety: artificial dyes. For decades, researchers have suspected that several artificial dyes contribute to hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder in children. These suspicions were recently confirmed by the California Office of Environmental … Continued
On April 4, a diverse group of organizations, including investor protection and shareholder advocates, climate advocates, and businesses, wrote to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler to highlight how private markets contribute to and exacerbate climate-related risks for investors and our financial system and what the Commission must do to meet these growing risks. … Continued
House Financial Services Committee Considers Anti-Investor Disclosure Bill Unpacking the Insurance Industry’s “Social Inflation” Lie The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023: What it is and Why it Matters What’s at Risk if We Lose the CFPB? House Financial Services Committee Considers Anti-Investor Disclosure Bill By: Micah Hauptman, Director of Investor Protection and Dylan Bruce, Financial … Continued
The House Committee on Financial Services is currently engaged in a comprehensive deregulatory agenda, including efforts to expand private securities markets at the expense of public securities markets. That this effort is happening at a time when deregulation in the financial system has led to a series of large bank failures should not be lost … Continued
Insurance companies are very fond of increasing their policyholders’ premiums and then crafting an explanation for the hikes that fits their interests, even if it doesn’t fit the data. Their latest fable: that rampant premium increases for businesses, non-profits, doctors, and truckers among other commercial insurance policyholders are the result of a new trend the … Continued
It would be difficult to overstate the problems with air travel in 2022. Record numbers of flights were delayed and cancelled, consumers were left stranded, baggage was lost, and an aging and vulnerable infrastructure nearly collapsed under the stress. One of the most important pieces of legislation that Congress will consider this year is the … Continued