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Nov. 2, 1998
In 1998 Consumers Union made its mark as a "fire patrol", helping to stop anti-consumer legislation being pushed by industry special interests. Nowhere was this role more critical than in the closing days of the Congress. The rush to adjournment traditionally brings out special interest bills galore, because backers hope nobody is paying attention. This year was no exception. An avalanche of bad bills peddled by the business lobby was poised for passage until aggressive lobbying by the public interest community, including Consumers Union, succeeded in sidelining them.
One example was an effort to rewrite the nation's bankruptcy laws, which CU called a "sweetheart deal for the credit card industry". Consumers Union vied for a more balanced approach that held the credit card industry partially responsible for the rise in personal bankruptcies due to their relentless and abusive marketing practices. Victories on measures improving credit card statement disclosure, protecting children from solicitation and prohibiting penalties for consumers who pay their bills on time were dismantled at the behest of the credit card industry. Congressional allies of CU retaliated by stopping the bill cold.
Another bad bill industry tried to sneak by was legislation to deregulate the manufactured housing industry - commonly referred to as mobile homes. The industry attempted a raw power-grab, trying to eliminate the public sector's ability to develop construction standards that could reduce the number of personal injuries and death linked to manufactured housing, improve durability and reduce insurance costs. This bill was also stopped.
A pet project of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. and the used car dealers lobby, dubbed the "rebuilt wrecks bill" by consumer groups, was also stopped. Sneaked into the giant spending bill with hopes nobody would notice, this measure would have nullified a host of state lemon laws that provide consumers stronger protection against shady dealers. When CU and other consumer groups raised a ruckus Sen. Lott decided to bail out, and dropped the matter.
Unfortunately, on some of the biggest issues of 1998, Congress sided with consumers on only a handful of occasions. It passed a measure to give consumers automatic cancellation rights for private mortgage insurance. It also stopped industry efforts to kill new rules designed to make furniture more flame resistant. And efforts in the Senate to pass product liability legislation that was harmful to consumers were stymied. But CU's goal of establishing a strong "Patients' Bill of Rights," low cost check accounts for households of modest means and limits on monopolistic practices by cable companies went nowhere in Congress.
Although by in large we have been up against the "Forgotten Consumer Congress" that pays little attention to consumers' concerns, CU continues to set the groundwork for future reform and prepare for the battles ahead. The Halls of Congress may still be clogged with lobbyists from industry special interests, but Consumers Union advocates are right in their shadows, looking out for consumers' interests.
