NCL outline priorities for the consumer product safety commission

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829 

Washington, DC – In response to a Notice of Public Hearing, the National Consumers League (NCL) provided comments on the agenda and priorities of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for fiscal year 2026 and 2027. In their comments, NCL conveys its support for a strong, independent CPSC and encourages the agency to establish standards and conduct enforcement activities necessary to address unacceptable risks posed by product hazards.

“NCL strongly opposes any attempt to eliminate or otherwise transfer the functions of the CPSC to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),” writes Daniel Greene, NCL’s Senior Director of Consumer Protection & Product Safety. “Congress deliberately established an independent, nonpartisan agency with exclusive authority over the safety of consumer products. Such independence ensures that product safety issues are treated like the public safety imperative they so clearly are. That independence should be preserved.”

NCL also expresses its strong support for increasing resources and personnel for the CPSC.

“Efforts to dramatically reduce the CPSC’s resources, staff, and facilities could substantially diminish the Commission’s ability to carry out its mission,” Greene continues. “More resources and personnel will enable the CPSC to better stop hazardous products at U.S. ports of entry, vigorously enforce product safety laws, investigate product hazards, effectively convey safety information to the American public, and accelerate the modernization of mission-critical technology.”

The comments conclude by detailing several vital safety standards and authorities, including table saw safety standards, increased accountability for e-commerce sites, and more personnel for import surveillance.

“Previous voluntary standards [for table saw safety] have been ineffective in preventing injuries, thus justifying the need for this mandatory safety standard using proven effective technology that prevents serious injuries from table saws,” Greene writes. “The matter of table saw safety has been an ongoing concern of NCL for more than a decade. It’s time to get this vital standard over the finish line.”

A copy of NCL’s comments can be found HERE.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.    

NCL sounds the alarm on bigger freight trucks: “a dangerous gamble for public safety and our roads”

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829    

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL) is strongly opposing federal proposals to allow significantly longer and heavier freight trucks on U.S. highways, calling the move a significant threat to public safety, infrastructure, and taxpayers.  

In an opinion piece published today in The Hill, NCL’s Senior Director of Consumer Protection & Product Safety, Daniel Greene, joined David Williams, the President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, to warn lawmakers and the public about the dangers of weakening truck size and weight limits.  

“Increasing size and weight limits would exacerbate the nation’s traffic safety crisis,” write Greene and Williams. “The heavier the truck, the greater the crash forces, increasing the lethality accidents.”  

Data cited in the article show that trucks weighing 91,000 pounds or more are up to 400 percent more likely to be involved in major crashes and cause significantly more damage to roads and bridges. Replacing weakened infrastructure to accommodate these trucks could cost taxpayers $80 billion, according to a 2023 analysis.  

“Politicians and advocacy groups across the political spectrum may not always agree on the best way to fix America’s roads, but they should agree that introducing larger and heavier vehicles is a recipe for disaster,” Greene and Williams continued. “ Lawmakers should swerve away from these policy potholes and commit to real bipartisan protections.”  

 NCL is calling on Congress to uphold current truck size and weight limits and reject efforts to allow heavier trucks or longer multi-trailer rigs on U.S. highways. 

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)       

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.     

NCL denounces postponement of CPSC priorities hearing

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829  

Washington, DC — Yesterday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) postponed its previously scheduled priorities hearing to August 27, 2025. Priorities hearings lay the foundation for the CPSC’s annual agenda, providing a crucial forum in which experts, victims, and industry players provide the CPSC with information necessary to identify, assess, and determine how to mitigate the risk of product safety hazards.

“Safety delayed is safety denied,” said Daniel Greene, Senior Director of Consumer Protection & Product Safety at the National Consumers League. “With 49,000 deaths, 34 million injuries, and $1 trillion in societal costs attributed to product hazards each year, the American people can ill afford such delays. The CPSC must operate more efficiently and effectively. Vital proceedings on button batteries, water beads, neck floats, bassinets and cradles, and other product safety hazards hang in the balance.”

In May, NCL led a letter of 158 advocates opposing plans to eliminate the CPSC and transfer the agency’s functions to HHS.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)       

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org. 

NCL applauds reinstatement of democratic CPSC Commissioners  

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829 

 Washington, DC – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit denied a request by the Trump administration to reinstate its order to illegally fire three Democratic Commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 

“This ruling is a resounding victory for product safety and the rule of law,” said Daniel Greene, the Senior Director of Consumer Protection & Product Safety at the National Consumers League.  “Partisanship has no place at the CPSC.  Now, the CPSC can resume its lifesaving mission—preventing unnecessary deaths and injuries from dangerous household products.” 

On May 8, 2025, Commissioners Richard Trumka and Commissioner Mary T. Boyle received an email from the White House purporting to fire them.  Commissioner Alexander Hoehn-Saric did not receive such an email but had been prevented from executing his duties by the Acting Chair.  On June 13, 2025, Judge Matthew Maddox of the Maryland District Court ruled that the attempted illegal firing violated federal law and ordered the commissioners’ immediate reinstatement. 

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.   

Senate pushes cruel cuts; the National Consumers League (NCL) says most vulnerable will pay the price

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829   

Washington, DC — The National Consumers League (NCL) is disheartened by the Reconciliation Bill narrowly passed by the Senate (51–50), with Vice President Vance casting the deciding vote.  

“This bill is a full-on assault on healthcare, financial protections, and basic fairness for low-income Americans,” says NCL CEO Sally Greenberg.  

If signed into law, it would inflict serious harm on low-income and working-class Americans. This bill would strip millions of hard-working Americans of their health insurance, gut funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and dismantle key student loan protections.   

“It’s a cruel, backwards bill that prioritizes billionaires over working families.” Greenberg added. “It takes away the tools people need to stay healthy, financially stable, and above water—just to hand more money to the already powerful.” 

Far from promoting fiscal responsibility, the bill punishes everyday Americans by dismantling the programs they rely on, while billionaires and corporate interests walk away richer and less accountable. 

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)        

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.     

Statement from the National Consumers League on AI moratorium deal 

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829 

Washington, DC — The National Consumers League (NCL) today voiced strong opposition to the reported amendment to the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” imposing a five-year moratorium on state and local regulation of artificial intelligence systems. The deal, if enacted, would amount to a sweeping federal preemption of popular and long-standing consumer protection laws, ranging from robocall restrictions to children’s online safety, privacy rights, and protections from discriminatory AI applications. 

“This amendment is a gift to Big Tech at the expense of everyday consumers,” said John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at NCL. “By preempting vital state laws—many of which have protected consumers from robocalls, deceptive marketing, and data misuse for decades—Congress would be tying the hands of state lawmakers and attorneys general just as AI technologies are becoming more embedded in our daily lives. It won’t just block new consumer protections—it will gut existing ones.” 

Despite language that purports to preserve “generally applicable” laws, the moratorium’s vague exemptions could preempt nearly any regulation applicable to automated decision-making systems—including those widely used in telemarketing, online platforms, and political advertising. 

NCL urges lawmakers to reject this overbroad provision and stand with consumers, not tech monopolies. 

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.   

NCL calls on Congress to improve traffic safety 

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829 

Washington, DC — In advance of a subcommittee hearing on motor vehicle safety, the National Consumers League (NCL) sent a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee urging lawmakers to take decisive action to curb the unacceptable number of deaths and injuries that occur due to traffic crashes.  

“The death and destruction on our nation’s roads does not have to be the price we pay for commuting to work, dropping the kids off at school, or picking up groceries,” the letter states.  “By harnessing revolutionary safety technologies, educating the motoring public, and improving the design, construction, and performance of motor vehicles, we can make our roadways safer.” 

In the letter, NCL provides several policy proposals to improve traffic safety. 

A copy of the letter can be found HERE 

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.    

The National Consumers League Applauds the Reintroduction of the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act; Urges Swift Action

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829 

Washington, DC – Months after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) determined in a proposed rule that Medicare Part D should cover anti-obesity medications as a “medically necessary” service for people with the disease of obesity, the National Consumers League today applauded the reintroduction of the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) in the 119th Congress as a critical step towards realizing this goal.  

Introduced in the Senate by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), TROA aims to advance obesity care for older Americans by expanding access to intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) beyond the primary care setting and by allowing Medicare Part D to cover FDA approved anti-obesity medications (AOMs), including new injectable drugs called GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists). As such, TROA’s passage would end discriminatory and out-of-date Medicare policies and remove one of the biggest obstacles impeding access to quality obesity care by ensuring Medicare beneficiaries with obesity will have the same access to GLP-1s as those prescribed these drugs for treatment of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  

When TROA was first introduced during the 113th Congress in 2013, 37.7 percent of adult Americans, or one in three adults, were living with obesity, and the American Medical Association responded by officially recognizing obesity as a serious disease requiring treatment. Now, obesity affects 41.9 percent of US adults  – more than 100 million people – which makes obesity the most prevalent chronic disease affecting Americans, significantly eclipsing the other most prevalent chronic diseases: heart disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, and stroke. Even more significantly, more than 230 medical conditions are directly linked to overweight and obesity, meaning these diseases worsen as the degree of obesity increases. Thus, obesity today is responsible for an estimated 400,000 deaths a year and costs the US economy an estimated $1.72 trillion annually. 

Also of note, the science of obesity treatment has changed significantly since the Medicare Part D program went into effect in 2006, resulting in new therapeutic agents, such as GLP-1 drugs, that can help people lose up to 20 percent of their weight in 26 months. Calculating the potential savings resulting from better health outcomes when obesity is treated, studies are beginning to project the potential savings to the economy from covering obesity medications. One recent study published December 5, 2024, in JAMA Network Open, estimated that a 10 percent weight loss resulting from obesity treatment saved $2,430 in reduced medical expenditures, and for a 25 percent weight loss, the reduction in health expenditures is $5,444 per person.  

Besides these reasons, the National Consumers League welcomes the reintroduction of TROA as a way that Congress can drive nationwide adoption of the Obesity Bill of Rights, issued by NCL and the National Council on Aging (NCOA) in 2024. The Obesity Bill of Rights defines quality obesity care as the right of all adults and establishes eight essential rights, including the right for older adults to receive quality obesity care and the right to coverage for the full range of treatment options so Americans with obesity will get the care specified in medical guidelines.  

Accordingly, NCL looks forward to working with Senators Cassidy and Lujan to build support for TROA and to working with the sponsors of the companion House bill, which will be introduced soon. At a time when so much is at stake for the health of older adults, TROA can be a catalyst for Congress to help older adults realize these rights and improve the standard of care for millions of Americans with obesity.  

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.    

NCL calls on congress to reject CPSC’s budget request 

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829 

 Washington, DC – The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) proposes dramatic restructuring of the agency, reductions in staffing, and decreases in funding in its Fiscal Year 2026 Performance Budget Request to Congress.  The budget recommends that Congress pass legislation transferring the functions of the CPSC to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  The budget also recommends a 10 percent funding cut and 14 percent reduction of staff. 

“The CPSC’s budget request puts partisanship before product safety,” said Daniel Greene, Senior Director of Consumer Protection & Product Safety. “Eliminating the independence and nonpartisanship of the CPSC could result in a lack of vigorous standard setting, oversight, and enforcement.  Coupled with deep cuts to resources and staff, this dangerous budget proposal could lead to more preventable injuries and deaths.  We call on Congress to reject this budget request and provide the CPSC with the funding, personnel, and authorities to carry out its lifesaving mission.”  

In May, NCL led a letter of 158 advocates opposing plans to eliminate the CPSC and transfer the agency’s functions to HHS. 

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.    

Fans urge changes to New York’s “Live Nation Welfare Bill”

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202,207,2829

New York, NY — The National Consumers League and Sports Fans Coalition (SFC) are calling on New York legislators to amend A8651/S822 warning that as currently written, it could further entrench monopolistic control over ticket sales in the Empire State and harm consumers.

While the proposed legislation includes many pro-consumer provisions supported by both organizations, it was unexpectedly changed prior to introduction to contain special interest handouts that will strengthen Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s control of the ticketing market in the state, potentially weakening the landmark monopoly case underway by New York Attorney General Tish James, 39 other state attorneys general, and the U.S. Department of Justice. The National Consumers League and Sports Fans Coalition intended to support the introduction of this legislation after many months working with the sponsoring legislators, though now oppose the legislation unless it is amended.

“We’re all in for more transparency and stronger refund rules. That’s solid work. But this bill, as written, also opens a backdoor that could let the monopoly cartel lock out fans from fair resale and deepen its grip on live events forcing safe, protected ticket sales offline where consumers will get scammed many times over,” said Brian Hess, Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition.

As detailed in a letter sent to lawmakers on May 28, the groups’ chief concern is that under this legislation Ticketmaster, as the largest seller of tickets in New York, would be handed new and outsized control to dictate how and whether tickets already sold can be resold by the ticketholder who purchased them.

“Live Nation and its affiliated artists and venues are pitching ticket resale restrictions as a panacea for all of fans’ frustrations with the ticket marketplace. Unfortunately, the reality is that the proposed restrictions are a fast track to more fraud. Artificially limiting consumer access to ticket marketplaces pushes fans into the shadows of the internet—Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and shady international sites—where scammers thrive. If New York moves forward with this bill, it must also boost enforcement resources for Attorney General Letitia James. Without it, fans will be left defenseless in a growing black market,” said John Breyault, vice-president of the National Consumers League. “

Fans are right to be frustrated when they are priced out of their favorite events. However, event organizers typically put their events on sale months ahead of an event. In the intervening time, life happens – kids get sick, jobs get moved, plans change. It is important that consumers have access to competitive ticket marketplaces where they can sell and buy unwanted tickets. This also gives fans access to discounted tickets. Indeed, the data bears this out. A recent study found that 55% of events offered tickets below the original price, resulting in in more than $440 million in savings nationally and $41.7 million in savings in New York State in 2023.

If passed, the legislation could restrict a ticketholder who cannot attend an event at the last minute from finding a legitimate secondary market source to sell their ticket. By comparison, Live Nation and the artists and venues it controls would be free to dynamically price tickets. The effect is that a ticket purchased in the same row for the same event can be priced dramatically differently from consumer to consumer based on the vast amounts of personal data Ticketmaster has about concertgoers.

Ticketmaster (which is owned by Live Nation) is already the second largest ticket resale marketplace in the nation. The likely effect of allowing Live Nation and the artists and venues it controls to dictate the terms of ticket resale is that Ticketmaster will gobble up even more of the resale market than it currently has. If the legislation passes, we also anticipate that Live Nation-controlled artists and venues will take steps to cut “preferred reseller” deals with Ticketmaster. This will allow Ticketmaster to double dip on fees for the same pair of tickets – during their initial sale, and again when they are resold on the Ticketmaster platform.

The bill does contain several pro-fan provisions. For example, the bill would require disclosure of some deceptive ticket holdbacks. Holdbacks (also known as allocations) are a nefarious practice where Ticketmaster, venues, artists and teams secretly create fake scarcity when tickets go on sale. Through deceptive holdbacks, so-called primary ticket sellers (Ticketmaster, venue box offices, artists) slowly drip tickets onto the market to create the illusion of a sold-out event. The legislation would make this longtime industry secret illegal for the largest events, requiring the disclosure of holdbacks and limiting the number of tickets that can be held back. An informed consumer, knowing how many tickets remain for an event for future sale, is more capable of making the smartest purchase decision, whether to buy their tickets immediately, wait for more to be released in the weeks or months ahead, or comparison shop form other sellers. Additionally, the bill proposes that if a postponed event isn’t rescheduled within three months, ticket sellers must issue refunds—a provision that advocates strongly support.

A8651/S822 is a bill that our organizations would very much like to support. Unfortunately, special interests have allowed it to become a vehicle for Live Nation’s monopoly ambitions in New York. We urge Senator Skoufis to work with us to ensure that fans – not Live Nation and the artists and venues it controls – are the real winners from this bill.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.