House Votes to Repeal COOL, Senate Urged to Wait The House of Representatives passed legislation that would repeal country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef, pork, and chicken. The Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015 was adopted on a vote of 300-131. “The House voted to deny American consumers basic information about where their food … Continued

Auto Insurers Fail to Reward Low Mileage Drivers Large auto insurers frequently fail to reward drivers with low mileage despite a strong relationship between low mileage and insurance claims, according to CFA research released last week.  In fact, three of the five largest insurers often give low-mileage drivers no break at all. “The failure of … Continued

House Committee Votes to Preserve Protections for Military Borrowers In an important victory for servicemembers, Military Lending Act supporters succeeded in beating back an attempt to delay new rules to protect military service members from 400 percent payday loans and other forms of high-cost credit.  The new rules are expected to be released by the … Continued

DOL Proposes Sweeping New Protections for Retirement Savers Much needed new protections for retirement savers moved one step closer to reality last week, when the Department of Labor (DOL) released for public comment a proposal to require all financial professionals to put the interests of their customers first when providing retirement investment advice.    CFA hailed … Continued

CFPB Finds Pre-dispute, Forced Arbitration Harms Consumers A new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finds that pre-dispute forced arbitration clauses are extremely prevalent in virtually all consumer finance markets and are detrimental to consumers’ ability to seek legal relief when they are wronged. Moreover, the vast majority of consumers are not aware that … Continued

FCC Proposes to Expand Consumer Choice and Competition in Video Markets The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing a pro-consumer rule to modernize the definition of multi-channel programming distribution (MVPD) that includes providers of linear video programming. “The Commission has the opportunity to remove a major barrier to competition in the video programming space,” stated … Continued

FCC Adopts Strong Net Neutrality Rules The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 yesterday to adopt new net neutrality rules to replace, strengthen and supplement FCC rules struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit more than one year ago. “The FCC has taken vigorous, but careful, steps to … Continued

Groups Call for State Regulation of Tax Preparers As millions of consumers turn to paid tax preparers to help complete what for many taxpayers is their largest financial transaction of the year, a coalition of consumer and community organizations is urging state and federal policymakers to ensure taxpayers are protected from fraud and incorrectly prepared … Continued

House Passes Bill to Weaken Health, Safety and Financial Protections The House of Representatives voted 250-175 earlier this month to adopt H.R. 185, the Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA) of 2015, which would cripple the ability of federal regulators to adopt critically important health, safety, and financial protections.  “This bill handcuffs federal agencies and poses a … Continued

Congress Approves Budget Bill with Mixed Results on Anti-consumer Riders Working into the night Saturday, Congress finalized a budget to fund the federal government in the coming year.  Narrow approval of the bill in the House and Senate came after a contentious debate focused largely on two of the bill’s most controversial riders, one to … Continued

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