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Groups call on TTB for alcohol labeling – National Consumers League

February 22, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC–The Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, and National Consumers League sent a letter today to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin today criticizing the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) for its proposal to “modernize” the labeling and advertising regulations for alcoholic beverages without requiring key information about alcohol content, serving size, calories, ingredients, and allergen information. The groups petitioned the agency in 2003 to require this information on alcohol labels, and provided survey data showing that the public overwhelmingly supports including this information on the labels of alcoholic beverages. The agency issued proposed rules to require mandatory allergen labeling in 2006 and Serving Facts information in 2007, but has not moved to finalize either rule.

“While the TTB may believe that the issues are complex, the agency has now had over a decade to consider them, and rulemakings to provide this key information are already well underway,” the groups write. “These rules should be prioritized under any effort to modernize alcohol labeling.”

Read the full letter here (PDF).

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.

 

National Consumers League renews call for legislation requiring child vaccinations

February 11, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DCAfter a harrowing account in a February 6, 2019 Washington Post article about the galloping rate of measles because of state laws permitting parents to forego – for personal or religious reasons — safe and effective vaccines for their children, the National Consumers League (NCL) is renewing its call for passage of strict vaccination laws.

“Vaccinations are proven safe and effective. They prevent diseases like measles, polio, smallpox, influenza, and diphtheria which used to terrify parents and send communities into panic. Vaccines should be seen as a gift of modern medicine. When you decide not to vaccinate your child, you’re endangering your child and your community,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg.  

NCL supports laws that restrict exemptions. Greenberg continued: “Legitimate and well-documented health conditions should be the only reason to not vaccinate your children. The loophole of `personal preference’ or ‘religious exemptions’ has caused the “current epidemic and traffic in fear mongering and unfounded pseudo science. The link between autism and vaccines has been debunked time and again and yet anti-vaxxers persist in spreading bad information and contribute to the dangerous spread of deadly illnesses in their communities.”  

NCL commends California, West Virginia, and Mississippi for allowing only medical exemptions to vaccine requirements. In 2016, NCL honored Dr. Richard Pan, a California State Senator, for his brave leadership on vaccine laws. In 2015, he authored landmark legislation abolishing all non-medical vaccine exemptions, legally requiring vaccines for school-aged children, thereby restoring community immunity from vaccine-preventable diseases. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Pan remarked, “Consumers need accurate guidance on medications that can improve their health, especially vaccines which benefit both patients and the public. NCL has been a strong partner as we strive to combat misinformation about vaccines.”

Unfortunately, most states permit religious exemptions from vaccines, and 17, including Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, currently allow philosophical exemptions. As a result of this policy, 7.9 percent of children in Clark County, WA were unvaccinated. NCL applauds Washington state Representative Paul Harris (R-Vancouver), who has introduced legislation that would ban personal or philosophical exemptions from the measles vaccine. To see where your state stands on non-medical vaccine exemptions, please click here.

NCL’s stance on vaccines

NCL admires the work of health advocates like Dr. Richard Pan and countless others who understand the vital role that vaccines play in protecting our communities. Vaccines are among the safest and most effective public health measures we have. NCL calls on all states to strike non-medical vaccine exemptions. Because of vaccines, we have the luxury of not worrying that our children or our families will contract these once devastating diseases. The measles outbreak is a wake-up call. Our message to parents and adults alike: get vaccinated!

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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.

Consumer groups, food industry jointly call on USDA/HHS to emphasize portion control in next Dietary Guidelines – National Consumers League

February 6, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC–Three national consumer advocacy organizations and six leading food industry trade associations joined together to call on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to emphasize portion control in the development of the official 2020-2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

“One promising, and we think underutilized, strategy for tackling the obesity epidemic is helping consumers understand and implement appropriate portion control,” wrote the National Consumers League, the Consumer Federation of America, and Consumer Action. The consumer groups’ letter to USDA and HHS was cosigned by The Grocery Manufacturers of America, the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA), the American Beverage Association, the Sugar Association, the National Confectioners Association, and the American Frozen Food Institute.

A copy of the letter can be accessed here.

The consumer groups and trade associations reminded the government that, “The current version of the Dietary Guidelines merely discusses portion size as an afterthought in strategies to improve diets and fight obesity, with the concept not even mentioned in the guidelines’ executive summary.”

Despite an array of consumer education efforts, including mandatory nutrition labeling on food packages and, more recently, on restaurant menus, obesity is still a dire problem. More than two out of three Americans remain overweight or obese, despite such efforts.

The consumer and industry groups noted that, “Larger portion sizes clearly contribute to increases in the rates of overweight and obesity . . . [we] therefore urge the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, once they are appointed and convened, to focus on portion control as a key strategy to address the rise of obesity and related dietary diseases.”

The National Confectioners Association has launched the Always A Treat Initiative. A central aspect of this voluntary industry effort is providing consumers with more choices in smaller portion sized packages. The founding members of the SFPA have taken similar steps.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association has long supported the need for portion recommendations when developing achievable and practical dietary guidance.

The American Beverage Association has committed to offering a wider variety of smaller portion sizes. Members of the American Frozen Food Institute offer a large variety of portion-controlled meal options, and the Sugar Association has publicized that sugar is best enjoyed in moderation.

The consumer advocacy groups and trade associations concluded, “These programs represent cost-effective measures to combatting obesity, but this is only a start. . . . [We] look forward to participating in the deliberations that will lead to the new Dietary Guidelines.”

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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.

Love hurts: New fraud report shows concerning increase in romance scams

February 1, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—With Valentine’s Day a few short weeks away, those who are looking for love online should also be on the lookout for imposters who want something besides affection: your money. According to the National Consumers League, which is issuing its annual Top Ten Scams report today, so-called “romance scam” complaints showed a big spike in 2018. Whereas such scams made up only 1.54 percent of complaints to NCL in 2017, in 2018 they made up 2.81 percent of complaints, a greater than 45 percent jump, year-over-year. For those who fall prey to these scams, the consequences can be devastating. The average loss reported by victims of these scams in 2018 was $18,831, by far the most financially devastating of the scams reported to NCL.

“Scammers will stop at nothing to separate victims from their money,” said John Breyault, NCL’s vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud. “They depend on the people they prey on to act on emotions, not reason. There’s no stronger emotion than love, and scammers are all too eager to use supposedly romantic connections to defraud their victims.”

The annual report, which is compiled from more than 5,300 complaints filed by consumers at NCL’s Fraud.org website, identified another additional worrying trend: for the third year in a row, complaints about phishing and spoofing scams rose. NCL attributes this trend to fraudsters being able to identify and target their victims better with email and robocalls.

“With data breaches putting more financial information in the hands of criminals than ever before, it’s unsurprising that the scammers are sending more convincing-looking phishing and spoofing emails,” said Breyault. “In fact, our own staff at NCL were nearly taken in by one of these scams recently. It just goes to show you that no one is immune to these scams.”

The overall top complaints in 2018 remained unchanged from 2017, with bogus Internet merchandise scams, fraudulent prizes and sweepstakes, and fake check scams making up the three most common types of complaints received at NCL. Other top scam categories included refund/recovery scams, scholarship and grant scams, and imposter scams.

An additional trend that advocates like Breyault are concerned about: the growing use of gift cards as a preferred method of payment by scammers. Although wire transfer and credit cards continue to be the most popular ways for scammers to get paid by their victims, 2018 saw a 25 percent increase in the use of alternative methods, including gift cards, as a payment method.

Read the full 2018 Top Scams report from NCL.

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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.

Script Your Future launches eighth annual student competition for innovations in medication adherence

January 21, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—Today marks the launch of the eighth annual Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a two-month-long intercollegiate competition among health profession student teams and faculty for creating solutions to raise awareness about medication adherence as a critical public health issue. The Challenge, hosted by the National Consumers League (NCL), is returning to university campuses across the country after seven years of successful student competition and innovation.   

The Challenge is an integral part of Script Your Future, a campaign launched by NCL and its partners in 2011 to combat the problem of poor medication adherence in the United States, where nearly three out of four patients do not take their medication as directed. 

“With the aging of America’s baby boomer generation and the complexities of our healthcare system, the role of health professionals in helping patients preserve and improve their own health is more critical than ever. The Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge uniquely encourages an interprofessional approach and lays the foundation for adherence-minded care among future professionals before they enter the workforce,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director. “For seven years, we have been blown away by the ingenuity of our student teams, their commitment to reaching patients with our messages of adherence, and their interest in positively impacting their communitiesWe look forward to seeing what this year’s Challenge will contribute to the discussion.” 

The Challenge is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA)  

Starting today through March 22, inter-professional teamsincluding student pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and otherswill implement creative outreach approaches in their communities to raise awareness and improve understanding about medication adherenceAt the end of the Challenge, teams submit entries for review by national partner organizations, and winners are recognized for their efforts to improve medication adherence. 

“The Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge has provided a tremendous opportunity for health professions students to demonstrate how they can work collaboratively to improve patient care through better medication adherence,” said Dr. Lucinda L. Maine, Executive Vice President and CEO at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. “This Challenge, now in its eighth year, is a powerful example of the impact health professions teams can have on the public health issue of medication adherence.” 

Since the Challenge began in 2011, more than 15,000 future health care professionals have directly counseled nearly 65,000 patients and reached more than 24.5 million consumers about the importance of medication adherence. Last year’s National awardees were the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy and the University of the Sciences Philadelphia College of PharmacyPacific University School of Pharmacy earned the Rookie Award for their outstanding contribution during their second year of participation in the Team Challenge.  

In addition to the national-level awards, the Challenge also honors teams with focused awards in the areas of health disparities, communications and media outreach, and creative inter-professional team. In 2018, the Challenge honored the following schools with focused awards: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM); Touro University California College of Pharmacy; and the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, respectively.   

To learn more about last year’s winners, visit the Script Your Future website.  

For more information on the Challenge, visit the Challenge Community website at https://syfadherencechallenge.ning.com/. Tweet along with us during the Challenge using #SYFchallenge, and follow the campaign @IWillTakeMyMeds. 

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About Script Your Future 

Script Your Future is a campaign of the National Consumers League (NCL), a private, non-profit membership organization founded in 1899. NCL’s mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information about the Script Your Future campaign, visit ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information on NCL, please visit nclnet.org.

NCL applauds Supreme Court rejection of Consumer Bureau challenge

January 15, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—In the face of unrelenting attacks against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a leading consumer organization is calling the Supreme Court’s rejection of the challenge to the CFPB a “huge victory for consumer protection.”

The CFPB was set up under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. Since opening its doors in 2011, the Bureau has won $10.8 billion in consumer relief through enforcement actions.

This statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, NCL’s executive director:

The CFPB’s independence from political winds is critically important to its work. Under former Director Rich Cordray, the Bureau took on many important cases and did a superb job of holding companies accountable for abusive financial practices. Since then, there have been efforts by Republicans and the financial industry to undercut its authority, arguing the agency had too broad powers.

At issue before the Court was whether the power of the CFPB’s sole director is in violation of the authority the U.S. Constitution gives a president to appoint and remove certain federal officials. A ruling in favor of the bank could have allowed a president to fire the agency’s director for any reason.

Congress, in its wisdom, set up the Bureau to be an independent agency and a bulwark against illegal practices of debt collection firms, student loan servicers, and unauthorized opening of fake bank accounts as we saw with Wells Fargo.

Rejecting the challenge to the CFPB’s constitutionality, brought by the State National Bank of Big Spring of Texas, now allows the Bureau to carry out its critically important consumer protection mission. Under Cordray, the Bureau amassed a terrific record of bringing cases against the worst actors in the financial service industry. Although the Trump Administration has shelved several rules and aggressively curtailed the agency’s enforcement, NCL has urged the Bureau to carry on Director Cordray’s consumer protection mission under the new director, Kathy Kraninger.

The indefensible attacks against the Bureau, led by organizations like the Competitive Enterprise Institute, that tout the absurd industry line that the Bureau is unconstitutional, are silenced for now. We agree with those in Congress who properly credit the agency for playing a critical role in protecting consumers.

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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.

NCL statement on drug importation legislation – National Consumers League

January 14, 2019

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—As the nation’s pioneer consumer organization, the National Consumers League (NCL) strongly supports consumer access to safe, effective, and affordable prescription drugs. 

However, NCL is concerned that new legislation, the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act (S.97/H.R. 447) and the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2019 (S. 61), which would allow medicines to be imported into the United States from foreign countries, would open the U.S. market to a flood of counterfeit and/or substandard drugs, putting patient health and safety at risk.

Counterfeit medications made with deadly ingredients have been found in over 40 states across America, posing a significant public health threat. There is no way to ensure that drugs purporting to come from Canada actually come from Canada. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) evaluation of non-FDA-approved imported drugs revealed that “while nearly half of imported drugs claimed to be Canadian or from Canadian pharmacies, 85% of such drugs were actually from different countries.” Allowing importation will only serve to exacerbate the challenge of preventing counterfeit drugs from reaching American patients.

Every head of Health and Human Services and the FDA for the last 18 years has refused to certify the safety of drug importation. FDA Commissioner Gottlieb recently stated that 86 percent of the packages FDA inspectors seized in 2017 contained counterfeit or sub-standard drugs. NCL fears that authorizing importation would expose consumers to unknown risks and undermine the security of the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain.

Rather than considering misguided importation proposals, NCL encourages Congress to strengthen our drug supply chain and pursue other strategies to ensure the affordability and accessibility of safe and effective prescription drugs.

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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.

Groups urge federal agency to protect consumers from deception in the live event ticketing industry

December 6, 2018

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL) and Sports Fans Coalition have filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) calling the live ticketing industry “rigged against consumers. The comments, filed in advance of the FTC’s “Online Event Ticket Workshop, describe how market consolidation since the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger in 2010 has allowed for the proliferation of deceptive practices such as holdbacks, restricted ticket transferability and the “drip pricing” fees added at the end of the ticket-buying process. 

“Ticketmaster and Live Nation should never have received the green light to merge in 2010. Our warnings about higher ticket prices and harms to the fan experience have been realized,” said John Breyault, NCL vice president of public policy, telecommunications, and fraud. Since the merger, Ticketmaster has had free rein to gouge consumers with mandatory fees and take away consumers rights.” 

The groups’ comments noted that a majority of tickets for the most in-demand events are now held back and siphoned off by industry insiders and brokers to be sold on the secondary market at a substantial markup. The few tickets that actually make it to general on sale are often quickly scooped up by illegal ticket-buying bot software and listed on the secondary market at inflated prices. The comments also highlighted recent investigations into Ticketmaster’s apparent complacency about bot usage despite federal law that outlaws the use of such technology.  

The comments also presented data about the continuing proliferation of “white label ticket” websites, which lure consumers into secondary markets under the premise that they are buying tickets directly from the venue. The cost of tickets purchased on such sites can be significantly higher than face value. 

“Time after time we see fans suffer the most when markets become too concentrated,” said Sports Fans Coalition Executive Director Brian Hess. “The live-event ticket market is no exception. The ‘robust competition’ we were promised in 2010 has failed to materialize and as a result the fans bear the burden. The proliferation of drip pricing, holdbacks, transferability restrictions, bots, and white label sites demonstrate that a market absent of competition is one that is anti-fan.”  

The National Consumers League’s and Sports Fans Coalition’s full comments to the FTC are available here.

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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.

About Sports Fans Coalition

Sports Fans Coalition is the nation’s leading sports fan-advocacy organization. Founded in 2009, SFC has led the fight to overturn the FCC’s Sports Blackout Rule, reform the US Soccer system, and protect consumers from league abuses. For more information, visit www.sportsfans.org.

NCL applauds DC Council for taking action to protect consumers from deceptive fine print contracts – National Consumers League

December 5, 2018

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering worker and consumer advocacy organization, applauds DC Council for taking action to protect consumers from deceptive automatic renewal clauses. Yesterday, DC Council voted unanimously to pass the “Structured Settlements and Automatic Renewal Protections Act,” which will require that clear notice and disclosure be provided to consumers before contracts automatically renew.  Automatic renewal clauses, also known as negative option clauses, are often snuck into the fine print of contracts to mask rate hikes, or cause gym memberships, newspaper subscriptions, or other services to renew without a consumer’s knowledge or consent.

The following statement is attributable to Brian Young, NCL’s public policy manager: 

Today’s action by the DC Council is a win for consumers. Soon, unscrupulous companies will be unable to sneak these clauses into the fine print of contracts to trick District residents into expensive services they no longer want or can afford. Polls show that 1 in 3 Americans has been tricked into agreeing to an automatically renewing contract. Today’s action by the Council to require companies to provide consumers with a clear notice of an automatic renewal clause and to receive a customer’s affirmative consent prior to converting a free trial into a lengthy contract is a giant step forward for consumer protection in the District. This legislation will ensure that these clauses are used fairly and ethically.

NCL applauds Councilmembers Mary Cheh, Charles Allen, David Grosso, and Anita Bonds for their hard work to provide this long overdue protection to District residents. We urge Mayor Bowser to quickly sign this bill into law. 

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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.

Consumer groups: DOT’s aviation consumer protection advisory committee tilted in favor of industry

November 28, 2018

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—America’s leading consumer and passenger rights organizations today expressed deep concern at the lack of appropriate balance in the new membership of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) aviation consumer protection advisory group. Specifically, the groups called on Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to reconsider the appointments of Frances Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn to the DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (ACPAC). The groups pointed out that the current makeup of the four-person advisory committee may violate both the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.

The groups’ letter cited the failure of the ACPAC’s membership to meet FACA’s requirement that federal advisory committees be “fairly balanced” in the views represented. Smith spent the past 12 years with CEI, a pro-business think tank, and has never worked on aviation consumer protection issues. Secretary Rahn’s agency is statutorily preempted from working on consumer protection issues related to airline travel. The ACPAC’s other two representatives are the general counsel of the airlines’ largest trade association and executive director of the Indianapolis Airports Authority. In light of this industry-friendly slant in the makeup, the groups indicated that it is unlikely that the views of the flying public will be adequately considered by the committee.

“Congress created the ACPAC as an important venue for the flying public to hold the DOT and the airline industry accountable for everything from rising ancillary fees to shrinking seat sizes,” said John Breyault, vice president, public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, which organized the letter. “Unfortunately, Secretary Chao has chosen to pack the ACPAC with members whose first interests are likely to be the airlines’ bottom lines, not consumers’ pocketbooks. Such a makeup is unlikely to be ‘fairly balanced,’ as required by the law.”

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 requires that DOT appoint a “consumer representative” and a “state or local government representative” with expertise in aviation consumer protection to the ACPAC. Historically the committee’s members included an experienced and committed advocate for aviation consumers and a state attorney general to represent the interests of the flying public. This enabled the ACPAC to make balanced recommendations on important consumer protection issues like accessibility for customers with disabilities, improving consumer complaint handling, and the need to educate flyers about their rights regarding delays and lost baggage.

“To our knowledge, none of Ms. Smith’s extensive career experience has involved consumer protection matters pertaining to aviation,” wrote the groups. Similarly, the Maryland Department of Transportation aviation responsibilities are directed to management of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall and Martin State airports, not consumer protection. As such, Secretary Rahn’s perspective is likely to be “essentially duplicative” of Mario Rodriguez’s, the Executive Director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, noted the letter.

In addition to the National Consumers League, the letter was signed by the Business Travel Coalition, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, EdOnTravel.com, Public Citizen, Travelers United, and U.S. PIRG.

To read the letter, click here (pdf).

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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.