Consumer advocates seek to block Virginia’s $2 billion handout to Ted Leonsis – National Consumers League and Sports Fans Coalition launch #MonumentalDisaster campaign

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December 15, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831; Sports Fans Coalition – Brian Hess, hess@istreetadvocates.com, 703-659-7557

Alexandria, VA – The National Consumers League (NCL) and Sports Fans Coalition (SFC) today urged the Virginia General Assembly and the Alexandria City Council to reject Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s plan to offer billions of taxpayer dollars to Monumental Sports Entertainment for the construction of a new arena for the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals. Governor Youngkin’s proposal would reportedly require the General Assembly to authorize the issuance of $1.4 billion, and potentially as much as $2 billion, in public debt. In addition, the citizens of Alexandria are being asked to contribute as much as $106 million in additional funds. Monumental Sports & Entertainment, would be required to invest $403 million, potentially less than 20 percent of the project’s estimated cost.

There is widespread consensus among economists that subsidizing sports stadiums almost never yields a net economic benefit for the local community and is instead a burden to local governments and taxpayers. Despite this, community after community continues to offer enormous taxpayer-funded incentives to professional sports teams. The Monumental Sports Entertainment deal is no different.

“This is a terrible deal for Virginia taxpayers, Wizards and Capitals fans, and residents of the surrounding community,” said John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at the National Consumers League. “Communities across America continually fall under the spell of billionaire sports team owners who promise the moon in exchange for billions in public money. Our elected leaders must not allow Virginians to become the next suckers in this shell game.”

“Fans love their teams, and they hate when they leave the city. That doesn’t mean fans like seeing their hard-earned tax dollars get spent on lavish sports arenas,” said Brian Hess, Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition, lifelong Northern Virginian, and avid DC sports fan. “We have long opposed public money being used for sports arenas, and have even called for fan-friendly conditions – the Danifesto – to be included in the handouts. However, even those conditions may not be enough to tip the scales on just how bad a deal this is. In no uncertain terms, lawmakers should vote ‘no.’”

NCL/SFC’s #MonumentalDisaster campaign launched with a petition found on SFC’s website: *https://www.sportsfans.org/open_letter_to_virginia_lawmakers. Here, fans can fill out a form and sign the open letter which will be delivered to lawmakers. NCL/SFC will also partner with local activists who have already started opposing this deal. Anyone can join the fight by signing the open letter and posting on social media with #MonumentalDisaster.

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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 nclnet.org.

About Sports Fans Coalition (SFC)

Founded in 2009, Sports Fans Coalition represents fans wherever public policy impacts the games we love. They work to promote pay equality for women athletes, provide resources to fans at risk for gambling addiction, ticket buyer consumer protections, college athlete name, image, and likeness rights, and many other issues in the sports industry. For more information, visit www.sportsfans.org.

*Links are no longer active as the original sources have removed the content, sometimes due to federal website changes or restructurings.

National Consumers League supports table saw safety standard proposed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission

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December 8, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL) submitted comments to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) this week on the Commission’s proposed rule to require a safety standard for all table saws. The “Safety Standard Addressing Blade-Contact Injuries on Table Saws” proposal is projected to prevent more injuries and save more money than any rule ever proposed at the agency.

“NCL applauds the CPSC for moving toward a final rule to make table saws safe and to prevent the over 50,000 injuries – many of them finger amputations – that occur each year from table saw accidents,” said NCL CEO Sally Greenberg.

Pam Gilbert, NCL Board member and former Executive Director of the CPSC noted, “The matter of table saw safety has been an ongoing concern of the CPSC and National Consumers League for more than a decade; we believe this rule would finally bring much-needed safety technology to this ubiquitous woodshop tool found in millions of US households.”

Previous voluntary standards have been ineffective in preventing injuries, thus the need for this mandatory safety standard using proven effective technology that prevents serious injuries from table saws. Indeed, a 15-year trend analysis (from 2004 to 2018) of table saw injuries showed no reduction in table saw injuries from 2010 to 2018, despite the fact that a voluntary standard that became effective in 2010 required new table saws to be equipped with modular blade guard systems.

The Commission expects that the proposed rule would prevent or mitigate an estimated 49,176 injuries treated in hospital emergency departments or other medical settings per year and that net cost benefits, even when factoring the cost of the technology, would range from $1.28 billion to $2.32 billion per year.

The proposed rule would limit the depth of cut of a table saw to 3.5 mm or less when a test probe, acting as surrogate for a human finger or other body part, contacts the spinning blade at an approach rate of 1 m/s. CPSC staff estimated that the proposed rule would prevent or mitigate the severity of 54,800 medically treated blade-contact injuries annually.

To read the views of woodworkers themselves, this YouTube link tells first-hand accounts, some of which have been included in NCL’s comments. One is below:

“My father cut all four of his fingers off with a Radial arm saw years ago. Three fingers are bolted back together so he can only move them at the knuckle, the index finger was lost due to infection. He had to have a skin graft on all his fingers pulled from his thigh, so they now all grow hair so he has to shave them otherwise they grow hair. In airports, he always sets off the metal detectors. When I was looking at table saws about 8 years ago it was between the sawstop contractor (hybrid wasn’t out yet) and Powermatic 3hp cabinet. My father was with me at the time while I was a teenager at woodcraft. One look at his hand and it was obvious which saw I walked out with. 8 years later I still use the Sawstop contractor saw and it looks just like when I bought it, Its a fantastic investment and probably the only one that is relatively easy to justify to your wife. “

As Commissioner Rich Trumka, himself a woodworker, observed in his comments “…[t]he rule would provide the greatest net benefit to society of any rule in the agency’s history that I’m aware of—up to a $2.32 billion net benefit every year.”

The National Consumers League fully supports this Proposed Rule and greatly appreciates the years of dedication and work from the CPSC’s engineers, statisticians, and economists and the leadership of CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn Saric in moving this to the top of the Commission’s agenda.

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 nclnet.org.

NCL applauds House Commerce Committee approval of consumer protection bills

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December 6, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Consumers League (NCL), America’s oldest consumer advocacy organization, today applauded the House Commerce Committee for advancing five important consumer protection bills that would implement long-sought reforms to the live event ticketing industry, require all-in pricing in short-term lodging, crack down on online dating scams and protect consumers’ plumbing systems from “flushable” cleaning wipes.

Two bills, the TICKET Act (H.R. 3950) and the Speculative Ticketing Oversight and Prohibition Act of 2023 (STOP Act), would implement much-needed reforms in the live event ticketing industry. The TICKET Act would prohibit hidden event ticket fees by requiring sellers to display the full price—including all mandatory charges—at the beginning of the transaction and in advertising. The STOP Act would prohibit the sale of tickets that the seller does not actually possess, a controversial practice known as speculative ticketing. The bill would also crack down on deceptive “white label” ticket resale websites and require fans to be provided refunds promptly in the event that a concert is canceled or postponed.

“Live event fans achieved an important victory with today’s vote,” said NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud John Breyault. “Add-on junk fees for concerts and sporting events have been the bane of consumers’ existence for decades. These reforms are long overdue and promise to make the ticket-buying experience a fairer, easier process for millions of fans.”

Additionally, the committee advanced H.R. 6543, the No Hidden Fees on Extra Expenses for Stays Act; H.R. 2964, the Wastewater Infrastructure Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety (WIPPES) Act; and H.R. 6125, the Online Dating Safety Act of 2023.

H.R. 6543 would require all-in pricing of hotel, Airbnb, and other short-term lodgings. This will prevent unscrupulous lodging companies from advertising one price to consumers only to hit them with additional fees later. The WIPPES Act will require that disposable cleaning wipes be clearly labeled with a “Do Not Flush” label. This has the potential to reduce estimated $441 million in additional operating costs that U.S. clean water utilities incur due to the flushing of so-called “flushable” cleaning wipes. Finally, the Online Dating Safety Act would require dating websites and apps to proactively notify users that an account they messaged has been banned. Such notifications would do much to intervene in ongoing frauds and likely help to reduce the scourge of romance scams.

“By advancing these bills, the House is demonstrating that consumer protection is a bipartisan issue. We urge the full House approval for these measures,” said Breyault. “Undisclosed hotel resort junk fees have bedeviled travelers for too long, draining consumers’ travel budgets and harming honest hotel operators. Similarly, the damage from ‘flushable’ wipes harms all consumers since the costs to municipal water systems are passed along to all ratepayers. Finally romance scam victims lost $1.3 billion to fraudsters last year. Requiring dating websites to offer them more support will do much to reduce the scourge of these scams.”

The committee’s actions come after NCL testified in support of these bills in a House legislative hearing in September of this year.

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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 nclnet.org.

NCL celebrates the 1-year anniversary of the passing of One Fair Wage’s Initiative 82 in DC

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November 8, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – To commemorate the 1-year anniversary of the passing of One Fair Wage’s Initiative 82, a ballot measure that phased out the tipped wage paid to workers in the District of Columbia, NCL’s CEO Sally Greenberg joined One Fair Wage and countless workers, employers, and consumers to celebrate at Busboys and Poets in DC.

On election day 2022, DC voters supported the passage of Initiative 82, which lifted tipped workers from the subminimum wage to a full minimum wage that would be phased in over five years. One Fair Wage is a national coalition, campaign, and organization seeking to end all subminimum wages in the United States and increase the sustainability of wages and working conditions in the service sector.

Speaking at the celebration, Greenberg thanked the workers and consumers in attendance along with DC Councilmembers Brianne Nadeau and Robert White, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, and Andy Shallal, owner of the DC establishment Busboys and Poets.

“NCL strongly supported Initiative 82 to end the tipped wage in DC and the One Fair Wage campaign across the country,” said Greenberg. “Consumers spoke loudly in the last election and voted to pay tipped workers a minimum wage. With the passing of Initiative 82, consumers get better service and workers get better wages – that’s a win-win.”

NCL also co-signed The Sky Is Not Falling; The Floor Is Rising, a report released by One Fair Wage that includes the voices of workers, employers, and consumers on their experiences one year after the passage of I-82, and includes the only government data on restaurant employment impacts currently available in the short period since implementation of the wage increase began.

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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 nclnet.org.

 

Nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization to present annual awards to Former HHS Secretary and Former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, California AG Rob Bonta, and child marriage survivor and activist Fraidy Reiss on Wednesday, October 11

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October 11, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC –The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, has announced it will honor former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and former Governor of Kansas Kathleen Sebelius and California Attorney General Rob Bonta with its highest honor, the Trumpeter Award, on Wednesday, October 11 in Washington, DC.

In addition to the Trumpeter Award, NCL will honor activist Fraidy Reiss with the 2023 Florence Kelley Consumer Leadership Award, named for NCL’s first general secretary and one of the most influential figures in 20th century American history. Reiss is a forced marriage survivor and activist who founded Unchained At Last.

The National Consumers League is also proud to announce that it has bestowed an honorary Trumpeter Award to President Joseph Biden for his exceptional work to protect consumers and workers. President Biden’s focus on safeguarding hard-working Americans from the burdens of hidden or junk fees is unprecedented and deserves special recognition, says NCL’s Chief Executive Officer Sally Greenberg. No living president has ever been given this award.

MEDIA ADVISORY

What:              National Consumers League’s 2023 Trumpeter Awards
When:             Wednesday, October 11, 2023

                         7 pm Presentation of Awards

Where:            Mayflower Hotel DC 1127 Connecticut Ave, NW

                         Washington, DC 20036

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, has been honoring visionaries in consumer and worker protection with its annual Trumpeter Award since 1973. Past honorees include: Senator Ted Kennedy, the award’s inaugural recipient; as well as Labor Secretaries Hilda Solis, Robert Reich, and Alexis Herman; Senators Carl Levin and Paul Wellstone; Delores Huerta of the United Farm Workers; U.S. Representative John Lewis; and other honored consumer and labor leaders.

Last year’s Trumpeter recipients were U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Dr. Francis Collins, former Director of the National Institutes of Health and former Science Advisor to the President. Mary Cheh, Ward 3 DC Councilmember, was recipient of the Florence Kelley Consumer Leadership Award.

This year’s Trumpeter Awards will feature a reception, dinner, and speaking appearances by NCL leadership, honorees, as well as:

  • Susan Hogan, NBC News4 Consumer Investigative Reporter
  • Lael Brainard, Director, National Economic Council
  • Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • Brian L. Schwalb, Attorney General, Washington, DC
  • Carol Ode, Representative, Vermont State Legislature
  • NCL Board President Joan Bray, Former Senator, Missouri General Assembly
  • NCL Board Member Jenny Backus, Backus Consulting
  • NCL Chief Executive Officer Sally Greenberg

To learn more, visit NCL Trumpeter Awards.

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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 nclnet.org.

NCL stands with Swifties in testimony before Congress

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September 27, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

WASHINGTON, DC – Testifying before a Congressional committee, the National Consumers League (NCL) today urged support for comprehensive ticketing reform legislation to fix a “rigged” live event industry. NCL, America’s oldest consumer and worker advocacy organization, described how the November 2022 meltdown of Ticketmaster’s ticketing system during the on-sale for Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour exposed the “ugly underbelly” of the industry.

“There has never been a better time to reform live event ticketing,” said John Breyault, NCL’s Vice President for Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud. “While the Taylor Swift meltdown may have been an anomaly, it exposed the ugly underbelly of a live event industry that is rigged to maximize profits for a select few and frustration for everyone else.”

Of the three event ticketing bills considered by the subcommittee, Breyault called the “BOSS and SWIFT ACT of 2023,” sponsored by Representatives Bill Pascrell (D-NJ9), Frank Pallone (D-NJ6), Julia Brownley (D-CA26), and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) “the single most comprehensive pro-fan and pro-competition ticketing legislation before Congress.” NCL supports the BOSS and SWIFT ACT because it includes a range of ticket industry reforms, including requiring better disclosure of ticket refund policies, shedding daylight on ticket “holdbacks” that siphon tickets away from the average fan, clamping down on unauthorized speculative ticket sales, and helping protect consumers from Ticketmaster’s anti-competitive efforts to extend its monopoly into the secondary ticket market.

NCL also voiced support for two other ticketing bills: Representatives Gus Bilirakis’ (R-FL12) and Jan Schakowsky’s (D-IL9) TICKET ACT, which would mandate all-in pricing of tickets and better disclosure of speculative ticket sales, as well as draft legislation that would ban speculative ticketing outright, while carving out ticket-buying services.

In addition to the ticketing bills, NCL testified in support of Representative David Valadao’s (D-CA22) Online Dating Safety Act of 2023 which would notify users of online dating apps that someone they messaged on the app was banned; Representative Young Kim’s (R-CA40) No Hidden Fees on Extra Expenses for Stays Act, which would mandate all-in pricing in the hotel and short-term lodging industries; and Representative Lisa McClain’s (R-MI9) and Representative Mary Peltola’s (D-AK) WIPPES Act, which would require manufacturers of cleaning wipes to label their cleaning wipes as non-flushable in order to protect wastewater infrastructure and consumers’ plumbing systems from damage.

NCL’s written testimony is available 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 nclnet.org.

NCL applauds FDA for its latest decision to approve an updated COVID-19 vaccine

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September 11, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – The NCL applauds the FDA’s announcement approving the latest COVID vaccine, which will be available to many Americans immediately or very soon to patients who are eligible.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 9,000 COVID-19 hospital admissions in the week ending July 29, a 12.5-percent increase from the week before. While that’s far below the nearly 45,000 admissions recorded the same week a year ago, the new vaccine is nevertheless is welcome and much needed to keep COVID and its new variants in check. The percentage of emergency department patients diagnosed with COVID-19 has risen gradually in July.

National Consumers League urges Ticketmaster to refund Springsteen fans

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September 11, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Consumers League (“NCL”) today urged Ticketmaster to immediately offer refunds to fans who purchased tickets to Bruce Springsteen’s postponed concerts. Due to illness, the rock icon recently announced indefinite postponements of the remainder of the concerts currently scheduled for September. According to Ticketmaster’s Purchase Policy, consumers will only be able to obtain refunds when the postponed concerts are rescheduled for a date to be determined.

The following statement is attributable to NCL Chief Executive Officer, Sally Greenberg:

“Like millions of other fans, our best wishes go out to Bruce Springsteen in light of his pressing medical issues, and we wish him a speedy recovery. Throughout his career, he has put his fans first. However, given the announcement that multiple upcoming concerts have been postponed to a date to be determined, we are concerned that consumers are not being given the option by Ticketmaster to obtain refunds for their tickets. Due to Ticketmaster’s policies, millions of dollars in fans’ funds are stuck in limbo, potentially for months or even longer.

We understand that many of Springsteen’s fans may opt to hold onto their tickets and will plan to see The Boss when his concerts are rescheduled. Until then, Ticketmaster will almost certainly be earning interest on fans’ funds that are locked up due to the company’s refund policy. Essentially, due to its policies, Ticketmaster is forcing fans to give the company an interest-free loan for an indeterminate period. It is a bedrock consumer protection principle that when a consumer does not get a product she paid for, a prompt refund should be issued. Ticketmaster should give consumers the option to immediately obtain refunds not just for Bruce Springsteen’s concerts, but for all postponed events going forward.”

 

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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 nclnet.org.

National Consumers League urges swift confirmation of FTC nominees

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July 7, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Consumers League (NCL) today urged leaders in the Senate to restore the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to its full complement of Commissioners by swiftly confirming Utah Solicitor General Melissa Holyoak and Virginia Solicitor General Andrew Ferguson, who were nominated by President Biden on July 3 and FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, who was renominated to a second term on February 13.

The following statement is attributable to NCL Chief Executive Officer Sally Greenberg:

“The FTC operates best when it is at full strength. NCL therefore welcomes the nomination of these three outstanding public servants whose key skills, experience, commitment, and expertise will serve them well in fulfilling the agency’s critical consumer protection and competition promotion mission. We look forward to working with Commissioner-designate Holyoak, Commissioner-designate Ferguson, Commissioner Slaughter, and all the leaders of the FTC to fulfill the important mandate of this independent consumer protection agency.”

NCL applauds President Biden for protecting student borrowers and vetoing attempt to end critical programs

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June 8, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, D.C. – The National Consumers League (NCL) today applauded President Biden for vetoing Congress’s attempt to roll back critical programs and protections for student loan borrowers. If the bill had become law, President Biden’s one-time debt cancellation would have been nullified, denying over 25 million borrowers critical relief. Additionally, the ongoing payment pause would have been abruptly ended and beneficiaries would have received surprise bills for the past few months of loan interest—interest that has been waived by bipartisan administrations. Lastly, borrowers who saw their loans discharged under longstanding debt cancellation programs, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness, would have had their debts reinstated.

The following statement is attributable to NCL Public Policy Manager Eden Iscil:

“With today’s veto, President Biden averted disaster for student borrowers nationwide. While the president’s action was important to prevent harm, we must do more to protect individuals with student debt before repayment begins later this summer. Millions of borrowers are currently in limbo as the Supreme Court decides whether they will side with the people and allow debt cancellation to go into effect, or if they will protect loan servicers’ interests and block relief. Repayment should not happen until we address the educational debt crisis.”