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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Budget

Following the Money 2015

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News Release | U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund | Budget

New Report Ranks All Fifty States on Government Spending Transparency

Government spending transparency is improving, but many states still lag far behind, according to “Following the Money 2015: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” the sixth annual report of its kind by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. Some states have improved their spending transparency web portals significantly, and even introduced entirely new state-of-the-art transparency sites with innovative features, while others are still barely achieving the minimum standards.

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Media Hit | Financial Reform

Credit Bureaus’ Deal to Improve Accuracy ‘Huge’ for Consumers

(Bloomberg) -- Buying homes, getting jobs and borrowing money will be easier after an agreement by the three biggest U.S. consumer credit reporting services with New York.[...] “It’s a sea change in the way the credit bureaus treat complaints,” said [U.S. PIRG's Ed] Mierzwinski. “The credit bureaus have been run by computers for years now. They’re going to have to hire more people and actually verify that what a creditor said is true.”

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

USPIRG Commends Department of Labor's Rule On Conflicted Retirement Advice

Today, we joined President Obama, Senator Elizabeth Warren, CFPB Director Rich Cordray, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and others at AARP as the President announced his strong support for a proposed Labor Department rule to close loopholes and to require Wall Street and other financial advisors to put consumers first when they give retirement advice. Wall Street has already launched a misleading attack. Read more to see our statement supporting the proposal, which will put billions of dollars back into retirement accounts.

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Media Hit | Transportation

Highway Expansion a Waste of Money

Maryland PIRG's op-ed in the Baltimore Sun responds to news of a crumbling bridge and $646 million state dollars that could be better spent.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

SpeechNow and RNC Cases Decided in ‘Win-Some Lose-Some,’ Day for Campaign Finance Reform

In a pivotal campaign finance decision today, the Republican National Committee’s challenge to the ban on soft money contributions to national parties was rejected by a three-judge panel.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Campaign Contributions Greasing the Wheels for New Highway Construction?

U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s new report, Greasing the Wheels: the Crossroads of Campaign Money and Transportation Policy looks at the 2008 transportation appropriations bill using data never before available, laying out the details of Congress’ earmark requests. The report, released on Thursday, also examines the campaign contributions from highway construction interests to both state and federal candidates.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Campaign Finance Rules That Regulate 527 Spending Overturned

A federal appellate court panel of 3 judges has overturned campaign finance rules that limit how some political action committees (PAC’s) spend money in campaigns. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington said that the regulations limit free speech rights to 527s.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Citizens United Case Arguments Heard Tomorrow

The Supreme Court will rehear arguments tomorrow for a case that could have dramatic impact on the financing of elections. The case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, was first heard March, but in a surprising move this summer, Chief Justice Roberts asked for the case to be re-argued to consider a broader set of decisions regarding campaign finance law.

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News Release

Statement on EPA Agreeing to Set PFAS Drinking Water Standards

Following pressure from lawmakers and groups such as U.S. PIRG and Environment America, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed today to begin setting enforceable drinking water standards on two toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Blog Post

EPA's PFAS Indecision Hurts Military Families

EPA's national plan to address public health risks caused by PFAS chemicals fell far short of the actions that EPA has promised to take to protect public health, exacerbating a crisis occurring on military bases around the country.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Investigation of E. Coli outbreak in lettuce reveals need for more protections

The FDA investigation reinforces that our food isn't nearly as safe as it should be. This time, more than 60 people got sick from salads, probably because a company failed to sanitize the water used to grow its romaine lettuce.

News Release | U.S. PIRG

Wells Fargo customers should file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and beware phishing scams

Here is our statement about Wells Fargo’s system failures that started yesterday.

News Release | U.S. PIRG

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gives payday debt traps its seal of approval

Here is our statement about the CFPB's proposal for gutting its own payday lending protections.

  • How safe is our food?
    Nationwide recalls ranging from romaine lettuce to millions of pounds of beef to Ritz and Goldfish crackers underscore that there’s a growing public health crisis we need to address.
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  • Why are health experts alarmed?
    More than 93% of doctors are concerned about the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms, yet factory farms still use up to 70% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S.
    Learn Why
  • Reclaim our Democracy
    Our democracy is based on the principle of one person, one vote, but our research shows the increasing dominance of big money in our elections.
    Get the facts
  • PROTECT YOURSELF
    We've created consumer tips to help protect you from unfair bank fees, identity theft, loan rip-offs and more.
    Get The Tips

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