Tag Archives: CFC Sponsored Legislation
Governor Brown signs CFC sponsored SB 313 to make it easy to cancel automatic renewals
“It should be as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for it,” said Richard Holober, Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California. Read More ›
States consider limited internet service providers’ access to user data
by Todd Shields, Chicago Tribune
Soon after President Donald Trump took office with a pledge to cut regulations, Republicans in Congress killed an Obama-era rule restricting how broadband companies may use customer data such as web browsing histories. Read More ›
Legislation introduced to address Wells Fargo scandal
“Wells Fargo’s customers were ripped off twice,” said Richard Holober, Executive Director of Consumer Federation of California. “First, the bank created two million fraudulent accounts. Then when consumers tried to sue, the bank forced them into company-dominated arbitration hearings. SB 33 will guarantee that the victims of a bank’s identity theft will get their day in court.” Read More ›
Talks begin over bill inspired by Wells Fargo scandal
by Dominic Fracassa, San Francisco Chronicle
Legislative deliberations continued Tuesday over a bill that seeks to prevent financial institutions accused of defrauding their customers from pulling legal disputes out of the state court system and into private arbitration. Read More ›
California bill seeks to help fraud victims of banks
[Senate Bill 33] would help victims of fraud committed by their financial institution after thousands of Americans fell victim to a Wells Fargo scandal. Read More ›
Pesky automatic subscription renewals might soon be easier to cancel
by Dennis Romero, LA Weekly
You subscribe to a magazine or join a gym for a special rate and months later realize you’re paying a lot more for renewals. And those fees keep hitting your bank account while you try to figure out how to make it stop. Read More ›
SB 648: Regulating Residential Care Referral Agencies
As the least-regulated long-term care facilities, RCFEs are easy targets for greedy referral agencies seeking to dump seniors in under-supervised environments. Some 7,800 RCFEs operate in California now, with roughly 175,000 beds available, and their numbers are expected to grow as the ranks of the elderly swell. Read More ›
Pink Tax Repeal Act Aims To Make Pricing Fair To Women
by Carla Fried, Consumer Reports
Last Friday, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) aimed to put an end to pricing products according to gender. She introduced the Pink Tax Repeal Act—a bill that would prohibit companies from charging different prices for similar products or services simply based on the gender of the customer. …
“As a rule, the man’s version or a neutrally-branded product is going to be less costly than the womens or girls version,” says Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California. “Consider buying products that aren’t specifically labeled for the use of women.” Read More ›
Bill Calling For Price Equity For Items Marketed To Females Fails
by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle
Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California … said his organization would try again next year. Women already earn less than men in wages for similar work, he said, “and then when they spend their hard-earned dollars, they’re charged more.” Read More ›
Gender Pricing Discrimination – Democrats Team With Republicans To Stop SB 899 (Hueso)
Consumer Federation of California-sponsored SB 899 (Hueso), a bill that would have ended gender pricing discrimination, was stopped by Democrats and Republicans in today’s meeting of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Senator Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) dropped SB 899 after it became apparent that a majority of the … Read More ›
Bill To End Gender Disparity In Retail Pricing Is Withdrawn After Pushback From Industry Lobbyists
by Jazmine Ulloa, Los Angeles Times
“It loaded the decks so that it was unenforceable,” said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California. “We are very angry that what we find is another example where corporate interests dominate the majority.” Read More ›
Wells Fargo Identity Theft Racket Inspired SB 33 (Dodd): Justice for Victims
October 4 Update: Jerry Brown signed SB 33 into law. The Consumer Federation of California is co-sponsoring legislation by State Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) inspired by Wells Fargo’s fraudulent creation of two million customer accounts. Senate Bill 33 will make sure that in the future, victims of … Read More ›
Bill Banning ‘Gender Tax’ Clears California Senate
by Alexei Koseff, Sacramento Bee
Pink scooters that cost double their red counterparts. “Boyfriend”-style clothing far more expensive than the men’s fashion it mimics. These are the scenarios that California legislators aim to outlaw with Senate Bill 899, a prohibition on “gender price discrimination” that often sees women charged more for similar goods. Read More ›