Consumers Union

Archived Articles at Consumersunion.org

July 2003 << Home >> September 2003

August 28, 2003	Blackout Highlights Need to Focus Electricity Legislation on Reliability In response to Representatives Billy Tauzin’s request for insight into the causes of the August 14th blackout, three leading national consumer groups called on Congress to focus electricity legislation on reliability and to drop the dangerous deregulation measures contained in current House and Senate versions of the energy bill.
August 27, 2003	Electricity Deregulation Puts Pressure on the Transmission Network and Increases Its Cost In wake of the massiver blackout in the Northeast, government officials and industry experts are calling for a massive upgrade of the transmission system that would cost between $50 billion and $100 billion.
	Governor Gray Davis Signs Landmark California Financial Privacy Law CA Governor Gray Davis signed a new law that provides Californians the strongest financial privacy rights in the country. The debate over privacy now shifts to Congress where financial industry lobbyists are trying to stop states from enacting stronger privacy laws.
August 26, 2003	August FYI Newsletter on Blue Cross/Blue Shield Transactions Consumers Union and Community Catalyst produced a quarterly newsletter regarding Blue Cross/Blue Shield transactions, hospital transactions and community benefits/free care.
	Consumer Groups Push New Protections for Cell Phone Users in California Consumer groups are offering their support for a bill of rights proposal now being considered by the California Public Utilities Commission that would provide essential protections to telephone customers, including millions of cell phone users throughout the state.
August 25, 2003	New York Bans Ephedra New York State has banned the retail sale of ephedra, a dietary supplement that has been linked to numerous deaths and serious health problems. Illinois has passed a similar ban and California is poised to do the same.
August 20, 2003	Fixing the Credit Reporting System Consumer group analysis of house FCRA legislation: H.R. 2622.
August 19, 2003	Consumers Union Experts Available to Discuss Dangers Posed by Power Window Switches in Cars Last year four children were strangled by power windows in cars that did not have lever-type switches or auto-reverse sensors to stop them from closing when they hit an obstacle such as an arm or neck, according to Kids and Cars, a nonprofit safety organization.
	California Legislature Enacts Toughest Financial Privacy Protections In The Nation The California state legislature has passed the strongest financial privacy protections in the nation. August 19's approval sends the measure to Governor Gray Davis for his signature. Governor Davis has already pledged to sign the landmark consumer protection bill into law.
August 15, 2003	Consumers Union Cautions Deregulation Proponents On Exploiting Largest Blackout In U.S. History Blackout emphasizes need to better study deregulation's impact on system reliability.
August 14, 2003	Major Breakthrough in California Campaign to Win Financial Privacy Protections Californians for Privacy Now announced today that California is poised to enact the strongest financial privacy protection law in the nation.
August 13, 2003	Proposed Washington Hospital Sale Puts Charity Care At Risk Health Management Associates (HMA) plans to slash qualifying income levels for charity care in Washington. HMA's proposed acquisition of the two nonprofit hospitals is the first instance of a hospital conversion since a state law was enacted to govern how such acquisitions may occur.
August 07, 2003	CU Praises New Tire Safety Standards The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued new rules to improve standards for passenger vehicle tires. CU believes these new standards will make the roads safer.
August 06, 2003	American Consumers Placing More Importance in Auto Safety Systems American consumers are finding safety systems -- such as smart airbags, vehicle stability control and anti-rollover systems -- to be more important than they were five years ago, according to a consumer research study. (Release from TRW)
August 04, 2003	California Bans Most Service Fees on Gift Certificates A new law going into effect January 1, 2004 in California bans nearly all service fees on retailer gift cards and gift certificates. Gift cards are proliferating. The Wall Street Journal estimated in Feb. 2003 that $36 to $38 billion in gift cards were sold in 2002.
August 01, 2003	Proposed Legislation to Prevent Injury to Children in Cars CU and Kids 'n Cars are working on proposed federal legislation to prevent injury and death to children left unattended in and around cars and light trucks.

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