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Media Hit | Tax

Bay State lags in business subsidy successes

Watchdogs say the Bay State’s tax credit program lacks oversight. State subsidies have come under scrutiny in the wake of last year’s failure of Evergreen Solar. Rhode Island taxpayers are on the hook for 38 Studios, which defaulted on a $1.125 million loan payment earlier this month after the firm was lured away from Massachusetts last year by $75 million in loans. Deirdre Cummings of MassPIRG said Massachusetts doesn’t consistently track whether subsidized companies create jobs they promised to when they received multimillion-dollar tax credits. “These are taxpayer dollars. We have to be able to show it was a worthwhile investment, and there is absolutely no way to know,” she said.

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News Release | Consumer Protection

House Passes Bill to Remove Prices From Groceries

It soon may be harder for Massachusetts shoppers to find out the price of groceries if a bill that today quietly passed the House without even a roll call vote becomes law. “This is bad news for shoppers, and for democracy.  To take away consumer rights without a recorded roll call vote is unconscionable,” said Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG legislative director.  “This is a pro-big-business bill that will hurt all shoppers.”

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Media Hit | Solid Waste

Still waiting for state’s master plan to reduce solid waste

While it’s cause for great celebration that Massachusetts is planning to reduce waste, it’s also a reminder that the Department of Environmental Protection has yet to produce the solid waste master plan — the comprehensive, 10-year waste plan required by law. We can’t help feeling like we’re at the celebration, blindfolded, with a tail in our hands but no donkey on the wall.

 

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News Release | MASSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Consumer Groups Oppose Bill to Remove Prices From Groceries

 

It soon may be harder for Massachusetts shoppers to find out the price of groceries if a bill just entering the final stage of passage in the House becomes law.

“Everywhere we turn, we are bombarded with ever more sophisticated pricing strategies and gimmicks by companies trying to sell us things.  These days shoppers need more and clearer price information, not less about the products we buy,” said Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG legislative director.  “This is a pro-big-business, anti-consumer bill.”

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Media Hit | Consumer Protection

Consumer advocates blast proposed item-pricing changes

“These days shoppers need more and clearer price information, not less about the products we buy,” Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG legislative director, said in a statement. “This is a pro-big-business, anti-consumer bill.”

> Keep Reading

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Media Hit | Tax

Bay State lags in business subsidy successes

Watchdogs say the Bay State’s tax credit program lacks oversight. State subsidies have come under scrutiny in the wake of last year’s failure of Evergreen Solar. Rhode Island taxpayers are on the hook for 38 Studios, which defaulted on a $1.125 million loan payment earlier this month after the firm was lured away from Massachusetts last year by $75 million in loans. Deirdre Cummings of MassPIRG said Massachusetts doesn’t consistently track whether subsidized companies create jobs they promised to when they received multimillion-dollar tax credits. “These are taxpayer dollars. We have to be able to show it was a worthwhile investment, and there is absolutely no way to know,” she said.

> Keep Reading
News Release | Consumer Protection

House Passes Bill to Remove Prices From Groceries

It soon may be harder for Massachusetts shoppers to find out the price of groceries if a bill that today quietly passed the House without even a roll call vote becomes law. “This is bad news for shoppers, and for democracy.  To take away consumer rights without a recorded roll call vote is unconscionable,” said Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG legislative director.  “This is a pro-big-business bill that will hurt all shoppers.”

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Solid Waste

Still waiting for state’s master plan to reduce solid waste

While it’s cause for great celebration that Massachusetts is planning to reduce waste, it’s also a reminder that the Department of Environmental Protection has yet to produce the solid waste master plan — the comprehensive, 10-year waste plan required by law. We can’t help feeling like we’re at the celebration, blindfolded, with a tail in our hands but no donkey on the wall.

 

> Keep Reading
News Release | MASSPIRG | Consumer Protection

Consumer Groups Oppose Bill to Remove Prices From Groceries

 

It soon may be harder for Massachusetts shoppers to find out the price of groceries if a bill just entering the final stage of passage in the House becomes law.

“Everywhere we turn, we are bombarded with ever more sophisticated pricing strategies and gimmicks by companies trying to sell us things.  These days shoppers need more and clearer price information, not less about the products we buy,” said Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG legislative director.  “This is a pro-big-business, anti-consumer bill.”

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Consumer Protection

Consumer advocates blast proposed item-pricing changes

“These days shoppers need more and clearer price information, not less about the products we buy,” Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG legislative director, said in a statement. “This is a pro-big-business, anti-consumer bill.”

> Keep Reading

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Result | Financial Reform

Reining in Wall Street

On July 21, 2010, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  Senator Scott Brown voted in favor of reform after MASSPIRG presented him with a new ride to replace his iconic, old pick up truck.  A BMW is more befitting of a man with close ties to Wall Street. Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown voted for Financial Reform.

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Result | Transportation

Expanding Public Transportation

Fewer cars will clog Boston’s highways thanks to an upcoming five-mile extension of the Green Line. Our research and advocacy helped build support for the project. We also helped convince state leaders to begin study on four additional major rail expansions.

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Result | Health Care

Ending Big Pharma’s Giveaways To Doctors

Drugmakers can no longer shower doctors with free gifts, meals and trips to boost the sales of prescription drugs. That’s because we persuaded Beacon Hill leaders to crack down on Pharma’s “direct-to-doctor” marketing practices, which contribute to the spiraling cost of prescriptions.

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Result | Consumer Protection

Keeping Dangerous Toys Off Store Shelves

Toxic chemicals, including lead and hormone-disrupting phthalates, are now banned in toys, thanks to a law we worked alongside our delegation to help pass in Congress. The same law requires regulators to test toys and infant products for safety before they hit store shelves.

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Result | Consumer Protection

KIDS’ SCHOOL LUNCHES NOW SAFER

For years, America’s schoolchildren have been eating beef, chicken and other foods that would have been rejected as substandard even by fast food chains. Thanks in part to our advocacy, the U.S.D.A. has stopped buying such low-quality meat for school lunches.

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Budget, Tax

Picking up the Tab

Some U.S.-based multinational firms or individuals avoid paying U.S. taxes by transferring their earnings to tax haven countries with minimal or no taxes. These tax haven users benefit from their access to America’s markets, workforce, infrastructure and security; but they pay little or nothing for it—violating the basic fairness of the tax system and forcing other taxpayers to pick up the tab.

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Transportation and the New Generation

The trend away from steady growth in driving is likely to be long-lasting—even once the economy recovers. Young people are driving less for a host of reasons—higher gas prices, new licensing laws, improvements in technology that support alternative transportation, and changes in Generation Y’s values and preferences—all factors that are likely to have an impact for years to come.

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Health Care

massachusetts Lives at Risk

The United States Congress is currently considering so-called “regulatory reform” legislation that would add new bureaucratic hurdles to stall and, in some cases, stop the creation of new safeguards and standards that hold corporations accountable and protect the public. According to our analysis, the result would be demonstrable harm for the people of Massachusetts.

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Democracy, Tax

Loopholes for Sale

Recent polls show a large majority of Americans, including small business owners, are convinced that profitable corporations are not paying enough in taxes. Citizens for Tax Justice and U.S. PIRG’s Loopholes for Sale pursues the intersection of corporate campaign contributions to members of Congress and the absence of Congressional action to close corporate tax loopholes and raise additional revenue from corporate taxes. The report includes the following findings:

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Report | MASSPIRG Education Fund | Budget, Tax

Following the Money 2012

The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy. Transparency in government spending promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption, and bolsters public confidence

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Blog Post | Solid Waste

March Madness and the Updated Bottle Bill | Janet Domenitz

The TUE committee postpones moving the bill out of Committee (technically called an ‘extension’), AGAIN.

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Blog Post | Democracy

Testimony in favor of A Resolution Restoring Free Speech | Janet Domenitz

The resolution calls upon the United States Congress to pass, and send to the states for ratification, a constitutional amendment to restore the First Amendment and fair elections to the people. The impetus for this resolution was a decision issued by the United States Supreme Court in January 2010 which basically allowed for unlimited, as well as untraceable, corporate money in our electoral campaigns.

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Blog Post | Financial Reform

CFPB to announces overdraft fee investigation, unveiling "penalty box" disclosure, possibly ending $39 lattes.Ed MierzwinskiElizabeth Weyant

At a news conference in NYC today, Director Richard Cordray of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will announce a major investigation of bank overdraft fee practices and propose a model "penalty box" disclosure to appear on bank statements. The investigation could end the $39 latte-- $4 bucks for the coffee, $35 for the debit card overdraft fee.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Testimony Opposing SB 548 An Act Relative to Manufacturer Rebates and Discount Programs | Deirdre Cummings

MASSPIRG strongly opposes SB 548 An Act Relative to Manufacturer Rebates and Discount Programs which will increase cost of health care by repealing the current prohibition on the drug industry marketing tactic, rx co-pay coupons, designed to increase the use of higher cost, more profitable, brand name drugs. 

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Blog Post | Democracy

In Support of An Act Relative to Accountability for Corporate Political Spending | Janet Domenitz

We sorely need this bill as result of a terrible Supreme Court decision last year. The decision in Citizens United v. FEC afforded already powerful corporate interests even greater influence in our elections. In that decision, five of the nine justices decided to sweep away decades of legal precedent and protections which served to uphold the integrity of our elections process. An Act Relative to Accountability for Corporate Political Spending is a straightforward and important response to this ‘deform’.

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Tools & Resources

  • HELP US UPDATE THE BOTTLE BILL
    We need your help to convince state lawmakers to do the right thing, and finally update our most effective recycling program.
    Learn more
    Take Action
  • TELL THE MBTA TO KEEP MASS ON TRACK
    With proposed service cuts and fare hikes, we need to fight for robust, fully-funded public transportation options for all Bay Staters.
    Learn more
    Take Action
  • BEAT HIGH BANK FEES
    Consumers can change the way big banks do business, and fortunately, you can still find many low fee and low cost options.
    Learn more
    GET TIPS
  • Our Unsafe Nuclear Power Plants
    Our report, “Unacceptable Risk,” examines two decades worth of “close calls,” leaks and other problems at our country’s 104 nuclear reactors.
    Learn more
    Get the report

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