Home

What's New

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

California Moves to Study, Not Ban, Toxic Chlorpyrifos

The Brown administration should recognize that the science of the harmful effects of chlorpyrifos is well-established, and that it is time to eliminate its use in California.

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Public Health

Drinking lead—why California may force all schools to test their water

CALPIRG Public Health Advocate Jason Pfeifle is quoted in this piece, noting, "“If a school finds a positive lead test or finds that a drinking fountain has elevated levels of lead, then it’s already too late and children have already been exposed.”

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Financial Reform

Federal Reserve Questions Administration, Congressional Rollbacks of Wall Street Reform That Threaten CFPB | Ed Mierzwinski

Recently released minutes of the July meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, comprised of Fed governors and regional Fed Bank presidents, show its concern that Wall Street reform rollbacks proposed by Congress, Treasury Department and the White House could allow "a reemergence of the types of risky practices that contributed to the crisis." Meanwhile, Fed vice-chair Stanley Fisher repeated his warnings that risks from the proposed rollbacks were "mind-boggling."

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Financial Reform

Well, Well, Wells Fargo! Poster Child for Defending CFPB, Dodd-Frank. | Ed Mierzwinski

As the big Wall Street banks, payday lenders and other opponents of consumer protection intensify pressure on Congress to weaken financial reform and gut the CFPB like a fish, numerous reports of further Wells Fargo malfeasance serve as a warning that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the rest of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act are needed more than ever.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Health Care

Pulling Back the Curtain on Prescription Drug Prices | Emily Rusch

One of the big outstanding issues for the California state Legislature to tackle this year is the soaring cost of prescription drugs. CALPIRG is strongly backing SB 17 and other bills to increase transparency and accountability in the prescription drug industry. 

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

California Moves to Study, Not Ban, Toxic Chlorpyrifos

The Brown administration should recognize that the science of the harmful effects of chlorpyrifos is well-established, and that it is time to eliminate its use in California.

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Public Health

Drinking lead—why California may force all schools to test their water

CALPIRG Public Health Advocate Jason Pfeifle is quoted in this piece, noting, "“If a school finds a positive lead test or finds that a drinking fountain has elevated levels of lead, then it’s already too late and children have already been exposed.”

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Public Health

CALPIRG Op-Ed in the San Jose Mercury News: Unsafe levels of lead in drinking water at San Jose schools?

Right now, far too many schools in California are finding lead levels that threaten children’s health and development.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health, Health Care

Our Statement on the Failure of the US Senate Health Care Bill

American consumers can breathe a sigh of relief today. The legislation that was narrowly defeated in the US Senate last night threatened to spark chaos in health insurance markets, raise costs, degrade quality of care, weaken protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and cause millions of Americans to lose health coverage.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Financial Reform

Statement On CFPB's Rule Restoring Rights To Take Wrongdoers To Court

Financial wrongdoers have long used mandatory arbitration clauses buried in small-print, take-it-or-leave-it contracts to prevent consumers from banding together to have their day in court. Our statement on the CFPB's important new rule restoring consumer rights to join class actions follows.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Result | Democracy

Delivering one million petitions to President Obama on dark money

U.S. PIRG joined a broad coalition to deliver one million petitions from Americans, including U.S. PIRG members and supporters, calling on President Obama to shine a light on dark money, or secret political spending.

> Keep Reading
Result | Health Care

Consumer-Friendly Health Care

In the fall of 2015, the state Legislature passed a series of CALPIRG-backed bills designed to help promote a more consumer-friendly and affordable health care system in California. State Bill (SB) 137 will give consumers accurate, up-to-date information about their health plan’s network; Assembly Bill (AB) 339 will ensure people with chronic health conditions are not discriminated against by insurers; AB 1305 will limit deductibles and annual out-of-pocket maximums for individual members of families; and SB 546 will require health insurance companies to justify rate increases for large employers’ health insurance plans.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection

30 years of toy safety

For the past thirty years, our sister organization U.S. PIRG Education Fund has taken a close look at the safety of toys sold in stores. Their reports have led to more than 150 regulatory actions. In November 2015, they released our 30th annual Trouble in Toyland report.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection

Keeping Children Safe From Dangerous Toys

Every year, as consumers begin purchasing toys for the holiday season, CALPIRG Education Fund visits numerous toy stores, malls and dollar stores to find potentially dangerous toys sitting on store shelves. In November 2015, we released our 30th annual report, "Trouble in Toyland 2015." Over the years, our reports have led to more than 150 recalls and other regulatory actions, helping to remove dangerous products from store shelves and keep children safe.

> Keep Reading
Result | Democracy

Giving more Americans a greater voice in our elections

In our democracy, the size of your wallet shouldn’t determine the volume of your voice. In 2015, we helped win reforms in Maine and Seattle to ensure that more Americans have a greater say in our elections. Seattle’s Initiative-122 empowers small donors with “democracy vouchers” that can be donated to local candidates and lowers the cap on contributions. In Maine, the state’s Clean Elections Act was improved by strengthening campaign finance disclosure laws and offering qualifying candidates increased public funding.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Protecting Those Who Serve

The men and women who serve in America’s military are also active consumers in America’s financial marketplace, where tricks and traps can cause harm to their finances and their lives. An analysis of more than 44,000 complaints submitted by active duty servicemembers and military veterans to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and contained in its Consumer Complaint Database finds that mistreatment of servicemembers by financial companies is widespread.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Budget

Governing in the Shadows

A review of 79 special districts’ online financial transparency shows that while a few districts are meeting the goals of “Transparency 2.0” – a standard of comprehensive, one-stop, oneclick budget accountability and accessibility – the vast majority do little to inform citizens about how they spend money.

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Medical Debt Malpractice

Millions of Americans are contacted by debt collectors every year over debt related to medical expenses. This review of complaints submitted to the CFPB suggest that many consumers contacted about medical debt should not have been contacted in the first place, and that many contacts involve aggressive or inappropriate tactics.  

> Keep Reading
Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Get the Lead Out

Our children need safe drinking water – especially at school where they go to learn and play each day.  Unfortunately, lead is contaminating drinking water at schools and pre-schools across the country.  As our report shows, states including California are so far failing to make the grade when it comes to keeping lead out of drinking water at school. 

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG | Financial Reform

Student, Education, and Consumer Groups Defend CFPB To Congress

On February 13, nearly 60 local, state and national student advocacy, professional, consumer, educational, faith and other organizations sent a letter to Congressional leaders expressing "strong support for the crucial work the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) does on behalf of student loan borrowers." The "borrower-focused" letter also urged Congress "to ensure the agency remains well-positioned to solve borrowers’ problems, which includes protecting the Bureau’s single-Director structure and its independent funding, and maintaining Director Richard Cordray until his term ends.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | Financial Reform

Federal Reserve Questions Administration, Congressional Rollbacks of Wall Street Reform That Threaten CFPB | Ed Mierzwinski

Recently released minutes of the July meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, comprised of Fed governors and regional Fed Bank presidents, show its concern that Wall Street reform rollbacks proposed by Congress, Treasury Department and the White House could allow "a reemergence of the types of risky practices that contributed to the crisis." Meanwhile, Fed vice-chair Stanley Fisher repeated his warnings that risks from the proposed rollbacks were "mind-boggling."

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Financial Reform

Well, Well, Wells Fargo! Poster Child for Defending CFPB, Dodd-Frank. | Ed Mierzwinski

As the big Wall Street banks, payday lenders and other opponents of consumer protection intensify pressure on Congress to weaken financial reform and gut the CFPB like a fish, numerous reports of further Wells Fargo malfeasance serve as a warning that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the rest of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act are needed more than ever.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Health Care

Pulling Back the Curtain on Prescription Drug Prices | Emily Rusch

One of the big outstanding issues for the California state Legislature to tackle this year is the soaring cost of prescription drugs. CALPIRG is strongly backing SB 17 and other bills to increase transparency and accountability in the prescription drug industry. 

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Financial Reform

CFPB Finds So-Called Overdraft Protection Costs Some $450/Year | Ed Mierzwinski

This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rolled out draft "Know Before You Owe" disclosures for banks marketing so-called "Standard Overdraft Protection," a controversial product that requires consumers to "opt-in" for the "privilege" of overdrafting debit and ATM transactions for a so-called convenience fee averaging $34. It also  released a study that finds that at-risk consumers who opt-in pay $450/year more in fees than other at-risk consumers.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Financial Reform

It Makes No Sense to Eliminate Successful CFPB, Weaken Wall Street Reforms | Ed Mierzwinski

The successful CFPB turns 6 years old tomorrow, July 21. It's already returned nearly $12 Billion to over 29 million consumers harmed by unfair financial practices. Here is a birthday look at the Consumer Bureau's body of work so far and why it makes no sense for Congress to roll it back at the request of Wall Street lobbyists and other special interests.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Tools & Resources

  • CONSUMER PROTECTIONS AT RISK
    Congress is one step closer to rolling back consumer protections established after the 2008 financial crisis. Help keep the financial cop on the beat.
    Take Action
  • CALL ON L’ORÉAL TO GO TOXIC-FREE
    We should know whether the products we use on our bodies are safe. Tell L'Oreal to be a leader and Pledge to be Toxic-Free.
    Add Your Name
  • VICTORY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
    KFC just announced that they’re going to stop serving chicken raised on our life-saving medicines. This is a major step forward in our efforts to stop the overuse of antibiotics.
    TELL KFC: THANK YOU
  • Did Monsanto Ghostwrite Studies?
    The EPA is reviewing the safety of Roundup’s main ingredient. But new evidence suggests “independent” research was written by Monsanto. If true, EPA officials should toss those studies.
    Take Action

DEFEND THE CFPB

Tell your senators to oppose the “Financial CHOICE Act,” which would gut Wall Street reforms and destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as we know it.

Act Now

Support Us

Your donation supports CALPIRG’s work to stand up for consumers on the issues that matter, especially when powerful interests are blocking progress.

donate today

Consumer Alerts

Join our network and stay up to date on our campaigns, get important consumer updates and take action on critical issues.
Optional Member Code