President-elect Joe Biden announced Monday that he intends to nominate Rohit Chopra as Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director and Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
McDonald’s announced a commitment to eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging used in its restaurants by 2025. PFAS are linked to kidney and liver problems, high cholesterol, reduced immune system function, and cancer.
After two years of debate in four congressional committees, Congress seemed likely to pass bipartisan legislation Monday that, if signed into law, will protect millions of consumers from unfair surprise medical bills from out-of-network providers. In response to the expected congressional passage of the surprise billing legislation, Patricia Kelmar, U.S. PIRG’s Health Care Campaigns director, made the following statement: “If passed, this will be the most far-reaching consumer protection that Congress has passed in recent memory...
Two accused credit card con artists used Globex Telecom to make calls using spoofed numbers
In-person voting on Election Day is on the relatively higher-risk end of activities. That is why states across the country have been scrambling since the outbreak began to adapt their voting systems to accommodate more mail-in or absentee voting, while maintaining sufficient and socially-distant in-person locations. With less than six weeks before Arizona’s primary election and less than five months until the November general election, state and local officials need to keep that effort going full steam.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released new guidelines for businesses and employers in responding to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Many of the recommendations are sensible: regular temperature and health checks, enhanced cleaning, staggered schedules and employee distancing, and greater use of video and teleconferencing instead of in person meetings. But when it came to “employees who commute to work using public transportation or ride sharing,” the CDC’s recommendation made less sense. It said the following: “Offer employees incentives to use forms of transportation that minimize close contact with others, such as offering reimbursement for parking or single-occupancy ride shares.”
Consumer complaints to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related to the coronavirus approached 50,000 on Tuesday. U.S. PIRG Education Fund has documented the actions taken by the FTC and 14 other federal agencies in response to coronavirus scams.
Let’s face it. If you are an APS customer, you are likely not pleased with the utility’s last rate hike or that it is now seeking an additional rate hike totaling $184 million. Relief from high utility bills was needed before COVID-19, and the number of households needing financial assistance now is even higher.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Tuesday that the personal information of nearly 8,000 business owners applying for federal disaster loans had been exposed. The breach affects applicants to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL), and may have included names, Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers, citizenship statuses and insurance information.
In an effort to protect young Americans from the temptations that can lead to a life-long struggle with tobacco addiction, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on Friday on a bill that would restrict tobacco sales and marketing.
