Arizona PIRG

Arizona PIRG Reports: An Update For Members Of Arizona PIRG

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	EXPOSING THE CREDIT INDUSTRY—Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski speaks out on unfair credit card practices. More than half of Americans carry credit card debt, at an average of $10,000 each, and totaling over $800 billion.

Bill Would Prevent Unfair Credit Practices
Arizona PIRG and consumer allies are urging Congress to consider strong rules that would prevent the credit card companies from taking advantage of consumers.

Currently, when you miss a payment, you can be charged a late fee. Not only can the credit card company charge you for the interest on that fee—they can also charge you again and again if the fee pushes you over your credit limit.

The Arizona PIRG-supported “Stop Unfair Practices In Credit Cards Act” would prohibit banks from charging repeated over-limit fees for a single instance of exceeding the limit. The bill would also prohibit credit card companies from charging interest on penalty fees.

In June, Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski testified before Congress on unfair credit card practices. Later this year, he will be appearing in a new documentary, “U-R Pre-Approved.”

Bill Exposes Big Money From Lobbyists

This summer, Arizona PIRG backed a lobby reform bill that will shed light on the often-hidden activities of lobbyists and their interactions with legislators.

For the first time, lobbyists will disclose their fundraising efforts on behalf of candidates. Increasingly, candidates rely on outside fundraisers, often paid lobbyists, called “bundlers,” who quietly raise up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for candidates.

President Bush’s “Pioneers” and “Rangers” each raised between $100,000 and $200,000. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s “Hillraisers” are each charged with raising $1 million.

“This information will help the public identify the powerful interests who use fundraising to build access and influence,” said Democracy Advocate Gary Kalman.

Now that Congress has adopted strong new rules, they need to ensure the changes will be enforced by overhauling its broken ethics enforcement process.

In the coming months, Arizona PIRG and our allies will be working with a special ethics task force and House leadership to fight for an enforcement process that will hold members who break the rules accountable.

House Passes Drug Safety Legislation

Consumers scored a victory over the powerful pharmaceutical industry when the U.S. House voted 403 to 16 in July to pass drug safety legislation as part of a comprehensive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reform bill.

The bill requires the FDA to make the results of clinical drug studies available online to researchers, doctors and patients; allocate an additional $225 million from drug industry user fees for ongoing post-market drug safety reviews; strengthen conflict-of-interest rules for scientists who serve on FDA advisory panels and consider fines of up to $50 million for drug makers who fail to complete follow-up safety studies.

“This is a big victory for consumers,” said Health Care Advocate Paul Brown. “Drug companies will have to reveal more complete information about their drugs. For too long the drug industry has hidden reports that showed their drugs in a less than flattering light.” The House bill is part of must-pass prescription drug user fee legislation that provides nearly $400 million of the FDA’s $1.5 billion budget. The Senate passed a similar bill by a 93 to 1 vote in May.

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