Today is the one week mark before the CA legislature has to send all bills to the Governor. It has been a brutal year due to budget concerns, but there are still quite a few bills worth pushing for.
Here is a list of those bill that the consumer community has compiled and will be focusing on next week.
-Pedro
Re: September 2009 Consumer Priority Bill List
Dear Lawmaker:
In the hectic final two weeks
of the 2009 regular session, hundreds of bills will move swiftly through both
chambers of the legislature. A
number of these bills – good and bad – are of utmost importance to California’s
consumers.
We write to provide focus on
the bills that are top consumer coalition priorities for approval and
rejection. Decades of lax consumer
regulation have taken their toll on our state's economy, with disastrous
results for low income consumers, working families and retirees. We call on the
legislature to take action to restore public confidence in the marketplace by
standing up to special interests. Enact the pro-consumer measures and defeat
the anti-consumer bills on the attached list. We stand united in our support or
opposition to them.
Please feel free to contact
Pedro Morillas (916) 448-4516 x112 or Richard Holober (650) 375-7840 for more
information.
Sincerely,
Pedro Morillas Richard
Holober
CALPIRG Consumer
Federation of California
Jodi Reid Elisa
Odabashian
California Alliance for
Retired Americans Consumers
Union
Gary Passmore Betty
Perry
Congress of California
Seniors Older
Women’s League of California
Linda Williams Beth
Givens
Consumer Action Privacy
Rights Clearinghouse
Rosemary Shahan
Consumers for Auto
Reliability and Safety
Enclosure
CALPIRG • Consumer Federation of California •
Consumers Union • Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Consumer Action • Consumers for Auto Reliability and
Safety • California Alliance for Retired Americans Congress of California Seniors • Older Women’s League
of California
August 2009 Priority Consumer
Legislation
OPPOSE:
AB 48 (Portantino) Reauthorizes Bureau of Private Post
Secondary Education, without anti-fraud protection. Grants state approval to
vocational education providers that rip-off students.
AB 1200 (Hayashi) Weakens auto insurance anti-steering
law. Allows insurers to unduly influence policyholders’ choice of body shop without
disclosing financial arrangements between insurer and shop.
SUPPORT:
AB 2 (De La Torre) Restricts health insurers from rescinding
coverage after a patient needs treatment, based on unintentional mistakes on an
insurance application.
AB 171 (Jones) Prohibits dentists’ offices from
offering high-interest loans to patients under the influence of anesthesia, and
from charging lines of credit before services are rendered.
AB 260 (Lieu) Prohibits mortgage brokers from making
false or misleading statements to borrowers, prohibits steering borrowers to
higher cost home loans, restricts use of negative amortization loans, and limits
mortgage prepayment penalties.
AB 764 (Nava) Prohibits
real estate brokers and others from collecting upfront fees for loan
modification services until the terms of the loan have been modified. Requires
notice to consumer that it is not necessary to pay a fee to a third party to
arrange a loan modification.
AB 943 (Mendoza) Limits
employers from using job applicant’s credit reports in hiring process.
AB 786 (Jones) Creates easy-to-understand categories for
health insurance plans so consumers can make apples-to-apples price and benefit
comparisons between plans.
SB 94 (Calderon) Prohibits
loan modification services from modifying a loan until the terms of the
modification contract with a consumer have been completely fulfilled. Requires
notice to consumer that it is not necessary to pay a fee to a third party to
arrange a loan modification.
AB 1512 (Lieu) Prohibits the sale of infant formula,
baby food and over the counter drugs after the “use by” date on product label.
SB 20 (Simitian) Requires security breach notices to describe
the nature of the breach and to inform consumer about how to place a freeze on
credit reports.
SB 797 (Pavley) Bans toxic bisphenol A (BPA) from baby
bottles, sippy cups and containers of food and beverage intended for
consumption by children age three or younger.
