Repeat champs from Pennsylvania takes 2017 National LifeSmarts title in Pittsburgh – National Consumers League

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April 24, 2017

Contact: National Consumers League, Carol McKay, (724) 799-5392, carolm@nclnet.org

Pittsburgh, PA—The student team from Dallas, PA, coached by Kevin West, was crowned national LifeSmarts champions in the Steel City today at the 23rd annual National LifeSmarts Championship. In an extremely tight final match against the Virginia state champion team from George C. Marshall High School in Falls Church, the teens from Dallas High School outplayed their opponents in an exciting end to the 4-day competition. Dallas High School students won the national title in Denver, Colorado in April 2016 and returned to the National Championship to successfully defend their title. 

Teams from Rhode Island and Michigan placed third.

“We are so proud of these students from Pennsylvania, who represented their state program with class and pride to take the championship for a second year in a row,” said LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “They played hard and demonstrated their consumer smarts throughout the four-day event. They are true LifeSmarts champions.”

LifeSmarts is an education and scholarship program run by the Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization. It competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of consumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology, and the environment. LifeSmarts is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in partnership programs with student leadership programs FBLA and FCCLA.

Teens from each of the 31 state champion teams represented at nationals competed as individuals, and the top five scorers received scholarships from NCL. This year’s winners were:

  • Environment: Troy Reinert, PA
  • Personal Finance: Wesley Maycumber, AZ
  • Health and Safety: Ann Metzloff, PA
  • Consumer Rights and Responsibilities: Matthew Metzloff, PA
  • Technology: Michael Bian, MI

Kerstin Peterson, from Missouri, and Porter Crumpton, from Washington, DC, were named the 2016 Students of the Year. Jeremy Cheney, from Georgia, and Linda Cumpton from Missouri were named LifeSmarts Coaches of the Year. Long-time State Coordinator Sharon Pierce, from Texas, earned the Coordinator of the Year honor.

“NCL’s LifeSmarts program is allowing us to rear a generation of consumer-savvy teenagers who often outsmart their parents on issues related to avoiding fraud, credit and debt, and complicated healthcare decisions,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. In the 23 years that LifeSmarts has been educating high school and middle school teens on consumer issues, it has grown dramatically, with more than 3 million consumer questions answered at www.lifesmarts.org in the online competition during the 2015-2016 program year.

For team photos, event schedules, grid standings, and more, log on to www.facebook.com/LifeSmarts

All winners at the national LifeSmarts Competition received valuable prizes donated by sponsors to the National Consumers League, including scholarships, savings bonds, gift cards, and more. To learn more about the program, contact NCL’s Lisa Hertzberg at 202-835-3323.

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About LifeSmarts and the National Consumers League

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: www.lifesmarts.org, email lifesmarts@nclnet.org or call the National Consumers League’s communications department at 202-835-3323.

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.

 

Local News: Final Four determined at annual national consumer literacy championship in Pittsburgh – National Consumers League

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April 24, 2017

Contact: National Consumers League’s Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (724) 799-5392

Pittsburgh, PA–Today in Pittsburgh, the 2017 National LifeSmarts Championship will come to an end with four state champion teams heading to the final matches to vie for the national title. LifeSmarts (LifeSmarts.org) is a national consumer literacy educational program and competitive scholarship opportunity, run by the National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer watchdog organization. LifeSmarts is celebrating its 23rd season this year, and the 2017 National LifeSmarts Champions will be determined by noon today and crowned at an awards ceremony following the final match.

The four semi-finalists are:

Virginia: George C. Marshall High School, Coach Rebekah Glasbrenner
Michigan: Cranbrook Kingswood School, Coach Kurt Godfryd
Rhode Island: Barrington High School, Coach Samuel Schacter
Pennsylvania: Dallas High School, Coach Kevin West (returning 2016 national champions)

NCL hosts the National Championship each April, during Financial Literacy Month. This year, NCL brought the LifeSmarts National Championship to Pittsburgh. On Friday, Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto welcomed 31 state champion teams from as far away as Hawaii and as nearby as the returning champion team from Dallas, PA to the Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh to kick off the weekend of activities. On Saturday, the students participated in Earth Day activities, including a discussion of food waste audits and participated in a food recovery action.

The event will come to an end Monday with NCL crowning the 2017 national champion team at 12 noon EDT. The team from George C. Marshall High School in Falls Church, Virginia, will face off against Cranbrook Kingswood School from Michigan in the first match of the morning. Rhode Island’s Barrington High School and the 2016 champion team from Dallas, Pennsylvania will compete in the second semi-final. 

LifeSmarts is a free, competitive educational and scholarship program, in which teams of students begin competition online. Top-scorers progress to their state competitions, and state champion teams convene each April to compete in the National LifeSmarts Championship. For a complete list of state champions, visit LifeSmarts.org.

The 2017 National LifeSmarts Champion and other winning teams will walk away with prizes and scholarships. In addition to placing as a team, individual students have the opportunity to compete for scholarships for demonstrating knowledge in specific program topic areas. The top eight placing teams and top five individuals are recognized.

NCL thanks the sponsors who make the program possible including McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Western Union, Johnson & Johnson, LifeLock, UL, Comcast, Intuit, Experian, American Express, the International Dairy Foods Association, CARE, the Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU), and the World Wildlife Fund.

Throughout the 2016-2017 program year, more than 100,000 teens competed online for a chance to represent their states at the 2017 National LifeSmarts Championship. Players answered more than 3 million consumer questions in the online competition.

Streaming live online from Pittsburgh today, Monday, April 24

Watch this year’s final and semi-final matches live at LifeSmarts.org!

9 am EDT – Virginia vs. Michigan
9:45 am EDT – Rhode Island vs. Pennsylvania

The final match will begin immediately following the second semi-final match.

Follow the conversation on Instagram and Twitter at #LifeSmarts or Facebook.com/LifeSmarts

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About the National Consumers League and LifeSmarts

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.

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: LifeSmarts.org, email lifesmarts@nclnet.org, or call the National Consumers League’s communications department at 202-835-3323.

Pittsburgh to host student-led food waste activities on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22 – National Consumers League

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April 21, 2017

Panel of high school students from across the nation to spotlight food waste causes, solutions at National LifeSmarts Championship hosted in the Steel City this weekend

Food Recovery Network’s University of Pittsburgh chapter to partner with event organizers to recover surplus food and donate for use by local partner agencies

For immediate release: April 21, 2017
Contact: Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (724) 799-5392 or

Regina Northouse, regina.northouse@foodrecoverynetwork.org, (240) 615-8813

Audra Kruse, akruse@idfa.org, (202) 220-3529

Pittsburgh, PA — In celebration of Earth Day this Saturday, April 22, Pittsburgh will be home to a series of activities focused on identifying causes and solutions to America’s food waste problems, led by student leaders from across the country who have gathered in the Steel City to compete at an annual national scholarship competition.

LifeSmarts (LifeSmarts.org) is a national consumer literacy scholarship opportunity and educational program, celebrating its 23rd season this year. LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest consumer watchdog organization. The 2017 National LifeSmarts Championship kicks off this Friday, April 21 at the Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh and will feature welcome remarks by Pittsburgh’s Mayor Bill Peduto. 

Earth Day focus on food waste

LifeSmarts covers five topic areas in consumer literacy, including the environment, which will be a special focus of emphasis this Saturday, Earth Day 2017. On Saturday, a panel of students from across the country will share their experiences of food waste audits they conducted this spring in their own communities.

“Food waste is an economic, environmental, and moral issue. We can’t think of a better day to help spotlight leadership by the next generation of consumers to fight this growing problem than Earth Day 2017,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “NCL and our LifeSmarts program are giving youth leaders the tools to recognize and fight our country’s food waste crisis and become part of the solution.”

“The dairy industry is looking at ways to reduce food waste that will help to increase U.S. food security and enhance sustainability. IDFA is pleased to be working with the National Consumers League to expand NCL’s youth leadership education program on this important issue,” said Dave Carlin, IDFA Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs and Economic Policy.

LifeSmarts will partner with Food Recovery Heroes, the University of Pittsburgh’s chapter of the national Food Recovery Network, to recover surplus food served during the event. Since 2011, Food Recovery Network has recovered 1.96 million pounds of food and donated it to those who need it most.

“Our model is successful because we combine the power of thousands of student leaders across the country to solve this complex issue of so many people going hungry, and the adverse impact of wasting food on our environment. Our University of Pittsburgh chapter is a shining example of positive change,” said Regina Northouse, Executive Director of Food Recovery Network.

Student volunteers from Food Recovery Heroes have been collecting surplus food from several locations on Pitt’s Oakland campus since fall 2014. Surplus food is safely delivered to local nonprofit agencies that are able to feed families and communities fresh, nutritious meals rather than canned, sodium-heavy, non-perishable foods. In May 2016 the University of Pittsburgh’s Dining Services became Food Recovery Verified by the Food Recovery Network. Pitt is the first school in the ACC to be Food Recovery Verified, and Food Recovery Heroes managed to recover and donate 9,338 lbs of surplus food from its campus in 2016.

Food waste facts

  • 40 percent of food is thrown out in the United States every year; this could feed 25 million Americans
  • 1 in 7 people in America facing hunger are children
  • The United States wastes food at a higher rate than any other country in the world

MEDIA AVAILABILITY

Food waste panel discussion and food recovery efforts

When: Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, 2017 at 12 noon
Where: Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh, Allegheny Ballroom (third floor)
1000 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

The panel will feature student leaders as well as:

  • Sally Greenberg, National Consumers League
  • Regina Northouse, Food Recovery Network
  • William Loux, International Dairy Foods Association

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About the National Consumers League and LifeSmarts

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 nclnet.org.

LifeSmarts is a competitive educational program, in which teams of students begin online. Top-scorers progress to state competitions, and then state champion teams meet each April to compete in the National LifeSmarts Championship. This year’s lineup of state champion teams come from as far away as Roosevelt High School from Honolulu, Hawaii, and as near as the Pennsylvania team from Dallas, which returns to the National Championship to defend its title as the 2016 national champs.

Consumer-savvy teens representing 30 states and the District of Columbia will compete at this year’s national event. Throughout the 2016-2017 program year, more than 100,000 teens competed online for a chance to represent their states at the 2017 National LifeSmarts Championship. Players answered more than 3 million consumer questions in the online competition.

Steel City to host 2017 National LifeSmarts Championship event April 21-24 – National Consumers League

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April 20, 2017

Returning 2016 champs from Dallas, PA will defend national title in Pittsburgh

Mayor Peduto to welcome state champion teams facing off at 23rd annual national consumer literacy scholarship competition

For immediate release: April 20, 2017
Contact: Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (724) 799-5392

Pittsburgh, PA — In celebration of April’s Financial Literacy Month, the National Consumers League (NCL) has announced the 31 state champion teams that have earned a spot at the 2017 National LifeSmarts Championship, which will take place starting later this month in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mayor William Peduto will officially welcome the state champion teams arriving in Pittsburgh at the event kickoff Friday, April 21 at 5 pm at the Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh.

LifeSmarts (LifeSmarts.org) is a national consumer literacy scholarship competition, celebrating its 23rd season this year, hosted by NCL, the nation’s oldest consumer watchdog organization. The 2017 National LifeSmarts Champion team will be crowned on Monday, April 24.

Complete roster of state champions teams available here

LifeSmarts is a competitive educational program, in which teams of students begin online. Top-scorers progress to state competitions, and then state champion teams meet each April to compete in the National LifeSmarts Championship. This year’s lineup of state champion teams come from as far away as Roosevelt High School from Honolulu, Hawaii, and as near as the Pennsylvania team from Dallas, which returns to the National Championship to defend its title as the 2016 national champs. 

“We are so proud of this year’s state LifeSmarts champions, who have proven themselves to be the best and the brightest of the next generation of consumers,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “LifeSmarts is fun and fast, and the perfect vehicle for educating young consumers. Our program goes in-depth on the issues kids—and adults—are facing now: finances, health care, the environment, and technology.”

The 2017 National LifeSmarts Champion and other winning teams will walk away with prizes and scholarships. In addition to placing as a team, individual students have the opportunity to compete for scholarships by demonstrating knowledge in specific program topic areas. The top eight placing teams and top five individuals are recognized. Additionally, NCL will award scholarships to winning participants from its Safety Smart Ambassador program, conducted in conjunction with Underwriters Laboratories (UL), which offers high school students the opportunity to teach very young students environmental and safety lessons as a community service.

NCL thanks the sponsors who make the program possible including McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Western Union, Johnson & Johnson, LifeLock, UL, Comcast, Intuit, Experian, American Express, the International Dairy Foods Association, CARE, the Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU), and the World Wildlife Fund.

Consumer-savvy teens representing 30 states and the District of Columbia will compete at this year’s national event. Throughout the 2016-2017 program year, more than 100,000 teens competed online for a chance to represent their states at the 2017 National LifeSmarts Championship. Players answered more than 3 million consumer questions in the online competition.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY

Event kickoff featuring Mayor William Peduto

When: Friday, April 21, 2017 at 5 pm
Where: Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh, Allegheny Ballroom (third floor), 1000 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 

Final competition

When:  Monday, April 24, 2017
Where:  Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh Hotel, 1000 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Final and semi-final matches begin:  Monday, April 24, 9 a.m. Eastern Time
Awards Ceremony: 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Eastern

Follow the competition online

Parents and teachers can follow the action at Facebook.com/LifeSmarts and via Twitter: #LifeSmarts

The semi-final and final competition matches will be streamed live at LifeSmarts.org.

Monday, April 24, 2017 starting at 9 a.m. Eastern Time

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About the National Consumers League and LifeSmarts

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.

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: www.LifeSmarts.org, email LifeSmarts@nclnet.org, or call the National Consumers League’s communications department at 202-835-3323.

FCC drops the ball on rehabilitating America’s prison population – National Consumers League

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byoung-92.jpegIn 2015, the Federal Communications Commission took action to rein in the $1.2 billion dollar prison phone industry. Prior to this action, prisons would charge outrageous amounts — up to $14 a minute — for inmates to contact family on the outside. The FCC’s new rule limited rates to no more than  $1.65 for most 15 minute calls. Recently however, new leadership at the FCC declined to defend legal challenges from the for-profit prison phone industry to the Commission’s intrastate (long distance calls within a state) rate caps. This is a huge mistake that will hurt families and communities across the nation.

The prison phone industry is unlikely to change on its own accord. Unlike traditional telephone companies, prison phone providers do not compete to provide the lowest price and best service in order to win consumers’ dollars. Instead, they compete to see who can offer prison operators — often for-profit entities themselves — the biggest cut of the profits they make off of their literally captive customer base. These kickbacks are extremely lucrative. Arizona, for instance, receives a 93.9 percent commission on inmates’ phone service revenue, providing the state with more than $4.3 million per year.

This is deeply troubling on many levels. First, the high cost of prison phone calls is a key contributor to America’s high recidivism rates. Numerousstudies have shown that one of the most efficient ways to reduce recidivism is for inmates to maintain contact with loved ones during their incarceration. With literacy and geographic barriers, the easiest way to maintain this contact is through phone communication. Without FCC action, it is less likely that we will see the current recidivism rates of nearly 50 percent decrease significantly. By allowing prisons to continue charging unaffordable rates, the FCC’s action makes it more likely that taxpayers will continue to underwrite the cost of housing of inmates who return to prison after release.

Exorbitant prison phone rates also create a more dangerous environment for inmates and their guards. An inmate’s inability to afford conversations with their loved ones leads to conflict. One study found that the high rates charged by prison phone companies caused a black market of illegal cellphones to pop up and contributed to sometimes violent thefts of inmates’ PIN numbers — numbers linked to financial accounts that inmates and family members deposit money into to prepay prison phone bills. The same study also found that inmates purposely cause fights and create security problems with the hopes of getting transferred to a facility with cheaper phone rates.

We can see that prison phone rates cause great hardship inside of prisons. And the issues they create outside of the corrections system are equally troubling. Media accounts abound of grandmothers, parents, and spouses having to choose between accepting a prohibitively expensive phone call from a loved one or paying for groceries. Young children cannot maintain any relationship with their incarcerated parent without a means of communication. Consumers face frequently dropped calls and monthly phone bills of $100, $400, or even $1,000, if a loved one was unfortunate enough to be placed in one of the prisons with a higher rate phone system.

Expensive prison phone rates can also prevent detainees and suspects from getting the legal help they need. One report found that some public defenders are forced to spend more than $100,000 a year accepting calls from prisoners. That money could have been better used to fund chronically underfunded prisoner legal aid programs.

While the problems that an under-regulated prison phone industry pose to the poorly funded public defender program is substantial, they pale in comparison to the problems that face immigrants or suspected undocumented migrants at detention facilities. Unlike in a typical jail, at immigrant detention facilities, detainees have no right to a public defender. This means they do not have the option of having a public defender pick up the tab for phone calls. The phones provided at detention facilities may not allow detainees to leave a voicemail or receive a call back from a relative or attorney. To complicate matters, detention facilities will sometimes charge even more expensive rates than jails. In one California detention center, for example, detainees had to pay $20 for a five minute call. These outrageous charges make proving citizenship or locating documents almost impossible for low-income consumers.

Denying loved ones and incarcerated members of society the ability to keep in touch is not just hard on the emotional health of families, it also contributes to America’s enormous prison population, increases violence within the system, and transfers the financial burden of incarcerations to low-income families. When the FCC took action under its mandate to “ensure that rates for phone calls are just, reasonable, and fair for all Americans,” the FCC was well within its legal authority. But now, more action is needed to address the conditions at immigrant detention facilities. The FCC’s latest decision to not defend legal challenges to intrastate calling caps is a step backwards. If we are serious about reducing rates of recidivism and violence in prisons, correcting the prison phone industry’s market failure is a clear first step.

United passenger incident underscores need for Congress to pass airline passenger bill of rights – National Consumers League

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April 11, 2017

Media contact: NCL Communications, Cindy Hoang, cindyh@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC— United Airlines’ forceful removal of a Louisville-bound passenger on United Express flight 3411, reportedly to make room for United employees, is the predictable result of a lack of competition in the American airline industry. Unchecked airline consolidation, with four airlines now flying 80 percent of domestic passengers, has led to progressively more crowded planes, shrinking seats, outrageous fees, reduced service to smaller cities. The National Consumers League (NCL) is urging Congress to conduct its own investigation of this and similar incidents on our nation’s airlines to determine how the lack of competition in the airline industry is contributing to this trend.

“This latest incident is shocking by any standard and represents a new low for customer service in the airline industry,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “United had so many other options for handling this unfortunate situation. We all know that when airlines overbook they offer passengers incentives to volunteer to give up their seats; United should never have escalated the situation and should have offered sufficient incentives to avoid this terrible outcome. The fact that United can get away with this underscores just how few rights consumers have the minute they step into an airport. If the Department of Transportation won’t hold the airlines to account for these practices, then Congress needs to step in and fix the problem.”

Under the fine print that every consumer who buys a ticket agrees to, airlines are free to sell more tickets than are available on an airplane and bump passengers with or — as the United incident demonstrates — without their consent. NCL has long urged Congress to pass legislation like the SEAT act and the Passenger Bill of Rights Act of 2011, which would give the flying public basic consumer protections.

“Consumers in Europe already enjoy far more protections than flyers in the U.S. have,” said Greenberg. “It’s time that Congress take a long-overdue look at why American travelers are getting second-rate consumer protections that allows incidents like this one to occur.”

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About the National Consumers League

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.

Health savings accounts: dubious benefits for the wealthy, disastrous for the rest of us – National Consumers League

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Spotlight on Health Care Series, Part 3: As America’s health care system is facing uncertainty, NCL staff is exploring the topic in a new weekly blog series.

The failure to successfully repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), if nothing else, exposed a Republican party divided (perhaps irreparably so) on how to reform America’s healthcare system. Despite the GOP’s devastating legislative defeat, we should not underestimate their determination to resuscitate their repeal/replace efforts. 

It’s clear there aren’t too many things the party as a whole agrees on these days, particularly surrounding healthcare, but there are a few ideas that are likely to re-appear in future attempts at healthcare reform. One of those ideas is the expansion of health savings accounts (HSAs). The American Health Care Act (AHCA) was a huge endorsement of HSAs, expanding Americans’ latitude to use them as a primary means to cover their health expenses. 

Under current law, HSAs are married to high deductible health insurance plans (HDHPs). HSAs supplement HDHPs by allowing consumers to set aside funds to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses. Despite the high deductible, HDHPs are attractive to many consumers as premiums are typically much lower than those of traditional plans. Another draw of HSAs is the tax advantage; the money you contribute is untaxed, the money grows tax-free, and you pay no taxes if/when you take the money out, as long as it’s used on health expenses. Even so, the long-term benefits of HSA-driven healthcare are dubious at best, even for the wealthy who can afford to take full advantage of these accounts. For the rest of us, it could be a disaster.

The healthcare landscape in a system dominated by HSA supplemented-high deductible health plans would be drastically different than that under the Affordable Care Act. The ACA was designed to ensure healthcare for all Americans- and not just access to care, but quality health coverage. The law requires that insurers cover a wide range of benefits, from preventive services to maternity coverage to mental health. Republicans argue that mandating these benefits drives up costs, so they propose skinnier benefit packages to lower premiums and increase “access.” Proponents of HSAs submit that putting more of consumers’ skin in the game will compel them to shop for cheaper care since they are spending their own money rather than an insurer’s. The idea is that this will drive down health care costs, all while bolstering competition in the marketplace and increasing consumers’ flexibility to choose the care they want. Too bad this lofty goal isn’t bound to reality. 

The fact of the matter is that HSAs have not been and will not be a feasible means to achieving health care for all. HSAs tend to benefit the wealthy, as those with lower incomes often have minimal, if any, disposable income to set aside in a savings account. In fact, a 2015 study found that people from high-income households were not only significantly more likely to have an HSA, but more likely to max out their contributions than people from low-income households. Considering that nearly half of Americans can’t come up with $400 to cover an emergency expense, we can hardly expect most Americans to have the ability to come up with cash to meet a high deductible. Even the wealthiest among us could go broke should a costly medical emergency occur. Moreover, the idea that HSAs afford consumers more flexibility is misleading — the real flexibility most Americans will have is deciding which health services they will have to forego. Studies have shown that even those who are able to contribute nominally to their accounts ultimately reduce the amount of care they seek, rather than shopping around for cheaper prices. Patients especially avoid things like filling their prescriptions, or proactively seeking preventive care that can mitigate health risks down the line. While the primary goal of the Republicans may be to reduce health care costs, we cannot sacrifice the well-being of the American people in those efforts.

President Trump called on Congress to create a “better healthcare system for all Americans,” however much of what he and his party have put forth only creates a better system for a fortunate few. HSAs are most valuable to those who earn the most and have the most to gain – it is not a solution that works for everyone. We cannot stand for higher cost burdens and coverage cuts across the board, only to give another tax break to the wealthy, and we must not let the Republicans shift us towards a system that will leave millions of low-income and middle-class Americans behind. While the future healthcare landscape is anything but certain, we would all be well served to stay clear-sighted about what could still lie ahead.

LifeSmarts program awards scholarship to student leaders from Warren Township, IL; Jefferson City, MO; Moultrie, GA; and East Greenwich, RI – National Consumers League

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April 6, 2017

Contact: Cindy Hoang, National Consumers League, (202) 207-2832, cindyh@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—Today the National Consumers League (NCL) has announced five scholarship recipients in four states, honored for their involvement in a community service and leadership initiative made possible through its consumer literacy program, LifeSmarts (LifeSmarts.org). The students were awarded $1,000 academic scholarships for their winning entries based on their experiences serving as Safety Smart® Ambassadors, a partnership between LifeSmarts and UL that pairs high school students with elementary classrooms to teach lessons about health, safety, and the environment.

The scholarship winners are:

  • Gabrielle Alcala, Warren Township High School FBLA, Illinois
  • Shivank Gupta, Warren Township High School FBLA, Illinois
  • Emily Miga, East Greenwich HS, Rhode Island
  • Genesis Nobles, Colquitt County HS, FBLA, Georgia
  • Kerstin Peterson, Blair Oaks HS, FCCLA, Missouri

Since 2013, when the LifeSmarts UL partnership began, hundreds of LifeSmarts students have become Safety Smart Ambassadors. Working in teams, high school students have made more than 1,000 interactive, 30-minute presentations, sharing empowering, educational safety messages with thousands of younger children throughout their communities. LifeSmarts is a national program that competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of consumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology, and the environment.

“We are so proud of our students who participated in the Safety Smart Ambassador program and the positive impact they made on their communities, and especially these five stand-outs,” said LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “We truly appreciate this partnership with UL. It has been extremely gratifying to see LifeSmarts students embrace the Safety Smart Ambassador program, provide education and mentoring to younger children, and learn about themselves in the process.”

The LifeSmarts-UL partnership has underwritten the Safety Smart Ambassador program and provided LifeSmarts with access to the vast knowledge base of UL, including resources for LifeSmarts to bolster its science and environment curriculum, resources, and competitive opportunities.

For more information, please visit LifeSmarts.org/SafetySmart.

2017 Safety Smart Ambassador award winners – in their own words 

Genesis Nobles, Colquitt County HS, FBLA, Georgia

“I had so much fun learning and growing through this fun experience. Doing different hands-on activities is always enjoyable. I can’t wait to do more with my younger family members and kids at my local church on my own time. I want to thank Lifesmarts.org and Safety Smart for offering such a huge opportunity for young adults like me.”

Kerstin Peterson, Blair Oaks HS, FCCLA, Missouri

“I really believe that by doing these Safety Smarts presentations, we can influence the younger generation of students to behave better and impact the world.”

Gabrielle Alcala and Shivank Gupta, Warren Township High School FBLA, Illinois

“Children enjoyed the Disney movie, especially the sing-along, with some asking for an ‘encore.’ Following each presentation, Safety Smart Ambassadors would ask kids what they learned from the video, (with the incentive of a pencil for answering a question right), and kids would jump out of their seats to answer questions. After seeing the children’s excitement, the fitness center director requested us to come to future events.”

Emily Miga, East Greenwich HS, Rhode Island

“To teach about good character, we had the younger students do several activities. For example, we had students stand back to back and describe what they saw. They quickly realized that their partners saw different things than they saw. However, this didn’t mean that their partner was wrong, just that they had a different point of view.” 

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About LifeSmarts and the National Consumers League

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. LifeSmarts educational resources are available online throughout the year at www.LifeSmarts.org. Competition begins again in September. For more information, visit: www.lifesmarts.org, email lifesmarts@nclnet.org or call the National Consumers League’s communications department at 202-835-3323.

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.

Beat the clock and file your taxes before April 18 – National Consumers League

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The April 18 income tax filing deadline is quickly approaching, and millions of consumers (almost one in seven Americans!) have yet to file their tax returns. If you are one of these last-minute filers, it can be a stressful time of year. But, rushing to complete a last-minute return can lead to rash decisions about tax preparation or to costly mistakes, which will delay your refund.

Here’s the good news: we have tips to help your complete their taxes on time — or get more time if needed. Filing doesn’t need to be a hassle. Use these tips to avoid many common filing errors and costly IRS penalties. Even if you don’t owe anything, missing the deadline can stall your refund check and make you more susceptible to tax identity fraud.

  1. Take advantage of free tax preparation help. Skip the high-cost tax preparation outfits and, instead, take advantage of free tax preparation assistance from Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs in your community. VITA programs are staffed by IRS-certified volunteers, but appointments are filling up, so act quickly. Find a local VITA site by visiting IRS.gov/VITA.

  2. Use Free File to e-file. More than 70 percent of all taxpayers qualify for IRS Free File. Consumers who make up to $64,000 per year can take advantage of the program, which allows the use of free, name-brand tax filing software from some of the biggest names in the tax prep business. Visit IRS.gov/FreeFile to learn more.

  3. File sooner rather than later. Tax identity fraud is one of the fastest growing types of scams, impacting thousands of Americans each year. Filing as soon as possible is the fastest way to reduce the risk of an identity thief beating you to your return.

  4. Watch out for tax preparer scams. Don’t let tax preparation fraud become another Tax Day headache. Be wary of fraudsters trying to steal your money and identity this tax season by making sure your preparer is qualified. Here is a guide to help you spot and find an honest preparer.

  5. Make sure you are filing an accurate return. Even if you are relying on software or a professional, make sure to double check everything for accuracy. Review all the numbers entered and make sure they are correct. Confirm that you have the right bank routing and account numbers. If you are filing a paper return, make sure everything is clear and easy to read. Remember, you — not your tax preparer — are responsible for any errors on your return.

If you’re going to miss the deadline, request a filing extension. According to the IRS, taxpayers who cannot meet the April 18 deadline can easily request a filing extension, which will prevent late-filing penalties. You can do this through Free File, or by filing Form 4868. But keep in mind that while an extension grants additional time to file, tax payments are still due on April 18.

NCL statement in opposition of Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch – National Consumers League

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April 04, 2017

Media contact: NCL Communications, Cindy Hoang, cindyh@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer and labor advocacy organization, has announced its opposition to the confirmation of President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, citing concerning decisions he made as a federal judge that seem to always favor large corporations over the interests of workers and consumers.

“Indeed, Judge Gorsuch has displayed a callousness toward workers and consumers,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “In one example, Gorsuch supported the firing of a truck driver who was forced to leave his broken down truck in order to avoid freezing to death in subzero weather after calling for help to no avail. In another case, in which an employee was killed by electrocution and the company had not given him full job safety training, OSHA decided the employer failed to properly train its worker, and fined the employer. Judge Gorsuch disagreed with the fine. His argument: that the case was an example of a health-and-safety watchdog agency having too much power.”

On consumer issues, Gorsuch ruled against a patient who was severely injured by a medical implant that was supposed to help her recover from spinal surgery. When the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was concerned that strong, small magnets in products were causing serious injury to kids who swallowed them and created regulations to reduce the risk, Judge Gorsuch sided with the manufacturer of the magnets, ruling that the CPSC could not regulate the products, in spite of the Commission’s evidence that kids were at risk.

Finally, Judge Gorsuch’s opinions have suggested that he fully supports the right of corporations to force employees and consumers who have been harmed into arbitration—through clauses in the “fine print” of lengthy contracts—preventing them from taking their cases to court. Gorsuch wrote that arbitration clauses should be enforced even when the parties don’t agree on the details of the arbitration. “There is significant evidence that arbitration in these situations almost always favors the employer or corporation, because the ordinary safeguards of litigating a case in court are not available,” said Greenberg.

Former President Barack Obama outlined what he believed made a person qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, and NCL agrees that fine academic credentials are not enough.

Obama noted the importance of having Justices with “experience that suggests he or she views the law not only as an intellectual exercise, but also grasps the way it affects the daily reality of people’s lives in a big, complicated democracy, and in rapidly changing times.”

“In both his labor and consumer decisions, Judge Neil Gorsuch fails the test of sympathizing with—and protecting the rights of—the average worker and consumer,” said Greenberg. “For these reasons, the National Consumers League opposes the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States.”

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About the National Consumers League

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.