When services go out, whether a landline, cell phone or TV service, what do companies owe customers? Richard Holober of the Consumer Federation of California said people deserve to get a refund and should demand their bills be reduced. Read More ›

State regulators intend to mete out swifter penalties and tighten oversight of dozens of private vocational schools that have been operating without state approval, in some cases for months. Read More ›

Philip Morris has given $31.3 million of the $44 million raised by the tobacco industry to defeat Proposition 29…At least 20 of the 40 sitting state senators, including 14 Republicans and six Democrats, have taken tobacco donations over the years. In the Assembly, 36 of 80 members, including 25 Republicans and 11 Democrats, have accepted tobacco money. Read More ›

After years of failed attempts to regulate flame-retardant chemicals linked to mounting evidence of harm, state legislators and consumer advocates are gearing up to take another look at the risks and benefits.
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Health insurers are increasingly shifting more prescriptions for complex conditions to a new category requiring customers to shoulder a larger share of the medication’s cost. Read More ›

To make universal coverage work at the state level, you’d need to channel federal healthcare funds into the system. A bill being drafted by Rep. Jim McDermott would allow that to happen. Read More ›

If you work for IBM, you can bring your iPhone to work, but forget about using the phone’s voice-activated digital assistant. Siri isn’t welcome on Big Blue’s networks. The reason? Siri ships everything you say to her to a big data center in Maiden, North Carolina. Read More ›

Peninsula Assemblyman Jerry Hill…has advanced AB 1861, which would prohibit the utility from charging bonuses to ratepayers and allow bonuses to be taken back from bosses of utilities later fined by regulators. Read More ›

California has more diploma mills than any other state in the nation, but it is not doing enough to protect students from the unaccredited colleges and vocational schools that issue worthless degrees, state lawmakers said at hearing yesterday. Read More ›

Anyone who has ever fought with a lender over a lost or misapplied house payment should be heartened by the latest news from the new federal mortgage industry watchdog. Read More ›

Reports cast doubt on Google’s assurances that it did not realize its street-mapping cars were snatching personal data from home Wi-Fi networks and that one lone engineer was to blame. Read More ›

The flaws in PG&E’s high-pressure gas lines that led to the catastrophic explosion in San Bruno in 2010 may lurk elsewhere, and regulators should therefore launch a comprehensive review of the company’s pipeline maintenance, consumer advocates argued in regulatory filings Tuesday. Read More ›

A bill to create a federally funded Basic Health Plan for about 720,000 low-income residents would go for naught if the Supreme Court tosses out the law. Read More ›