Insurance Commissioner Says “Price Optimization” Violates State Laws In a victory for consumers, Maryland Insurance Commissioner Therese Goldsmith announced last month that “price optimization” – a practice that varies insurance rates based on factors other than the risk of loss, such as the likelihood consumers will shop around or tolerate price increases – is in … Continued

Administration Urged to Appeal WTO Decision on COOL Despite modifications in response to an earlier ruling, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled last week that U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) regulations still constitute a technical barrier to trade.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture had revised its COOL regulations to provide consumers with more precise information in … Continued

CPSC Takes Important Steps to Protect Children The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has taken long-needed steps to address two important hazards to children in recent weeks. By a vote of 4-0, the CPSC approved a new national safety standard for high powered magnets.  In addition, the agency staff submitted a recommendation to the Commission … Continued

SEC Strengthens Credit Rating Agency Rules The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 last month to adopt long-delayed rules to enhance the transparency and improve the integrity of credit rating agencies, those arbiters of credit quality whose willingness to assign investment grade ratings to toxic mortgage-backed securities helped to trigger the 2007 financial crisis.  Before … Continued

Administration Urged to Improve Fuel Efficiency of Heavy Duty Trucks Nearly three quarters of Americans favor requiring manufacturers to increase the fuel economy of large trucks to reduce their fuel costs, according to a recent survey commissioned by CFA.  Of the surveyed respondents, 74 percent favored the standards, while only 25 percent opposed. However, only … Continued

USDA Finalizes Poultry Rule without Addressing Food Safety Concerns The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) finalized a revised poultry slaughter inspection rule last week without adequately addressing multiple food safety concerns raised by consumer groups. Among the rules most glaring shortcomings: it removes inspectors from the slaughter line and turns over certain inspection activities, previously … Continued

Groups Call On FTC to Require MPG Ratings in Car Ads CFA joined with a diverse group of consumer, energy efficiency, science, safety, and environmental organizations to file comments with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week urging that agency to require Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mileage ratings to be included in passenger vehicle advertising … Continued

House Fails To Address CFTC Underfunding The House began consideration of the Agriculture Appropriations bill (H.R. 4800) last week, once again dangerously underfunding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the tiny agency responsible for protecting the public from fraud, manipulation, abusive practices and risks to the financial system in the nation’s commodity and derivatives markets.  … Continued

Court Ruling Boosts FCC’s Ability to Pursue Network Neutrality A ruling last month by the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit – which denied petitions for judicial review of the FCC’s plan to reform the Universal Service Fund in order to provide support for expanded broadband access – provided strong support for … Continued

NAIC Committees Ignore the Plight of Lower-Income Good Drivers Two committees of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) gave voice vote approval earlier this month to a report on the pricing of automobile insurance that fails to address the underlying problem of the accessibility and affordability of auto insurance for lower-income, good drivers.  “To … Continued

Proposed Merger Would Stifle Emerging, Online Video Competition The recently proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger violates the antitrust laws and the Communications Act by such a wide margin that it cannot reasonably be approved, according to a CFA report released earlier this month.  The report shows that the consent decrees that Comcast entered into with the … Continued

FCC Explores New Approach to Preserve the Open Internet Responding to a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that overturned the agency’s broadband rules, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided to rewrite its Open Internet Order under the Section 706 authority outlined in the court decision. CFA filed a report last month as part of … Continued

Bipartisan Draft GSE Reform Bill Is An Important Next Step Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Minority Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) released draft legislation last week to reform the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) which CFA Housing Policy Director Barry Zigas praised for establishing “an important series of bipartisan agreements that would benefit … Continued

Child Deaths Highlight Need for Window Covering Cord Rulemaking After four children died in a three-week period, CFA joined with Parents for Window Blind Safety and Independent Safety Consulting last week in issuing a public call for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to take effective action to protect children from the preventable strangulation … Continued

House Passes Bill to Weaken Consumer Protections In a week focused on rolling back regulations, the House passed bills Thursday to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (H.R. 3193) and make it more difficult for federal regulatory agencies generally to adopt pro-consumer regulations (H.R. 2804).  Both bills repeat attacks that have not gained traction in … Continued

Senate Passes Anti-Consumer Flood Insurance Bill On a vote of 67-32, the Senate passed legislation (S. 1926) last month that would lower rates for flood insurance, but at the expense of the actuarial soundness of the federal flood insurance program.  In a letter to senators on the eve of the vote, CFA Director of Insurance … Continued

Budget Leaves Poultry Inspection at Risk As Congress was putting the finishing touches on the 2014 federal budget, the Safe Food Coalition and the Worker Health and Safety Coalition sent a letter to House and Senate appropriators opposing budget reductions for USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and urging Congress to strip out provisions in … Continued

Auto Insurers Charge Higher Prices to Drivers with Lower Credit Scores The nation’s two largest auto insurers, State Farm and Allstate, charge moderate-income drivers with poor credit scores much higher prices than comparable drivers with excellent scores, according to new CFA research released earlier this month. Yet, surveys show that, by a greater than two … Continued

Administration Releases Salmonella Action Plan Addressing a pressing food safety issue, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Salmonella action plan last week designed to reduce the incidence of illness from Salmonella in meat and poultry products.  In a press statement praising the action, Chris Waldrop, Director … Continued

House Advances Anti-Investor Legislation The House of Representatives passed two anti-investor bills last month, one to weaken protections for average retail investors (H.R. 2374) and one to weaken protections against systemic threats to the financial system (H.R. 992).  “While we are disappointed that these anti-investor bills passed, we remain hopeful that they will not progress … Continued

Consumer Needs Should Come First in Mortgage Finance Reform As Congress and the Administration consider how to reform the mortgage finance system, they should put the needs of consumers first, CFA Director of Housing Barry Zigas said in comprehensive comments submitted this week to the Senate Banking Committee.  While there are “many constituencies whose needs … Continued

CFA Warns of Potential Health Care Scams With implementation of the Affordable Care Act scheduled to begin today, CFA issued new tips for consumers on avoiding identity theft and other scams that could accompany the health care act’s roll-out.  “Whenever there is a new government program or benefit, fraudsters will look for ways to take … Continued

Judge Denies Injunction Seeking to Halt COOL Implementation Food safety advocates won an important initial victory last week in their efforts to defend country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules, when a U.S. District Court judge issued a ruling denying a request for a preliminary injunction to prevent implementation of the rules until the lawsuit is concluded. The … Continued

President Outlines Pro-Consumer Plans for Housing Recovery President Obama delivered a speech earlier this month outlining a coordinated set of initiatives to build on the housing economy’s emerging recovery.  In a press statement issued in response to the speech, CFA Director of Housing Policy Barry Zigas called it an “important step in reaffirming housing’s importance … Continued