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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | COVID-19

Nursing Home Safety During COVID: PPE Shortages

At any given time, about 1.3 million people with long-term medical issues or short-term rehabilitation needs are residing in the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes. And too many of them are at risk, according to an analysis of government data by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group.

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips, COVID-19

Planning to vote in person? Consider taking a bag of supplies to help you survive long lines | Teresa Murray

With Election Day coming up, here's a tip guide for what to do before you go to vote, what to take with you and how to stay safe while you’re at your polling place.

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

New report: COVID-19 pandemic worsens existing consumer problems with car buying

Consumer complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding vehicle loans and leases have increased sharply during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report by the CALPIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group. The analysis suggests that consumers in California and across the United States are facing abusive and deceptive practices from the automobile lending industry. 

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips, COVID-19

Why can I still buy toxic hand sanitizer? | Teresa Murray

The FDA doesn’t have the authority to stop retailers from selling dangerous over-the-counter products such as toxic hand sanitizer. Our safety system is broken, and we need to fix it. 

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips, COVID-19

Tenant protections from eviction and utility cutoffs vary by state | Jacob van Cleef

The CDC implemented the eviction freeze on Sept. 4 to reduce the number of people on the streets who could get infected with and spread the COVID-19 virus. Landlords and other groups filed lawsuits attempting to strike down the halt on evictions, so the future of the policy remains uncertain.

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Antibiotics

REPORT: Most Fast Food Chains Get Poor Grades for Overuse of Antibiotics in Beef Newport Beach Based Chipotle Leads the Pack With an ‘A’

Oakland: Most top fast food chains in the United States continue to sell beef produced with routine antibiotic use, earning them poor grades in the fifth annual Chain Reaction scorecard released today by six major consumer, public health and environmental organizations. This is a stark contrast to the stunning antibiotic success story that has unfolded across the chicken industry in the past decade, driven in large part by meaningful policies adopted by fast food companies. 

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

New Report Shows What Californians Are Trying to Fix

Sacramento - Today, CALPIRG Education Fund released a new report, “What are Californians Trying to Fix?” which looks at what items people in California are trying to fix, and why that can be difficult to do. The report highlights the growing call for “Right to Repair” reforms, which would require manufacturers to make parts and service information available to consumers who want to reduce waste and save money by extending the life of the products they buy. 

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Heartburn medication recalls continue due to carcinogen concerns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed today that the drug manufacturers Dr. Reddy’s and Perrigo have initiated a voluntary recall of all of their generic versions of Zantac (ranitidine) -- commonly used to treat heartburn -- due to carcinogen contamination.

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News Release | CALPIRG | Public Health

Calif. Regulators Move To Reduce Lead in Drinking Water at Child Care Centers

SACRAMENTO – State regulators announced steps on Wednesday to reduce the risks of lead exposure faced by young children in day care facilities across California. In a public hearing, the State Water Resources Control Board agreed to adopt a goal of reducing lead in centers’ drinking water to no more than 1 part per billion, or ppb. The board’s decision represents the toughest action in the country to date on this issue.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Tax

Following the Money 2016

State governments spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year through contracts for goods and services, subsidies to encourage economic development, and other expenditures. Public accountability helps ensure that state funds are spent as wisely as possible. Our 7th annual "Following the Money" report found that California still lags behind every other state in providing accessible, searchable data to the public.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Highway Boondoggles 2

The second in our series of reports on wasteful highway projects, Highway Boondoggles 2 looks at 12 highway projects across the country that reflect a particularly troublesome mix of skewed transportation priorities, minimal benefits to local communities, and in some cases a huge price tag to boot. Together, these projects are expected to cost at least $24 billion in taxpayer money, exhausting limited funds that could be better spent on repair and maintenance or put toward critical investment in transit, biking, and pedestrian options that better meet current and future needs.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Tax

Settling for a Lack of Accountability?

When large companies harm the public through fraud, financial scams, chemical spills, dangerous products or other misdeeds, they almost never just pay a fine or penalty, as ordinary people would. Instead, these companies negotiate out-of-court settlements that resolve the charges in return for stipulated payments or promised remedies. These agreements, made on behalf of the American people, are not subject to any transparency standards and companies often write them off as tax deductions claimed as necessary and ordinary costs of doing business.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Millenial Online Voter Registration

Since the launch of online voter registration (OVR) in 2012, best practices have emerged that maximize the impact of online voter registration for getting youth from college campuses across the state onto the voter rolls.  Youth voter engagement has been identified as a problem of emerging concern by public and community leaders.  Only 8% of eligible youth participated in the historically low voter turnout elections of 2014.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

For 30 years, CALPIRG Education Fund has conducted an annual survey of toy safety, which has led to over 150 recalls and other regulatory actions over the years, and has helped educate the public and policymakers on the need for continued action to protect the health and wellbeing of children. Among the toys surveyed this year, we found potential choking and noise hazards, one toy that exceeded federal toxic standards, and three toys that preliminary testing showed may exceed federal toxic standards.

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Blog Post | COVID-19

Factory farms: A pandemic in the making. | Matt Wellington

The emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic is a symptom of how we raise food animals across the world. 

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Blog Post | COVID-19

Worried about taxes during the COVID-19 pandemic? Here's something that can help. | Claudia Deeg

In response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the IRS has extended the tax filing deadline to July 15, 2020. If you’ve been impacted by the economic ramifications of the outbreak, you may qualify for free tax filing software.

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Blog Post | Consumer Tips

The worst possible option for paying your bills | Claudia Deeg

Living in California, I’m currently spending 56% of my income on rent. Most financial advisers say you shouldn’t spend more than 30%. Apparently this qualifies me as “severely cost-burdened,” according to the California Budget & Policy Center.

However, I’m extremely lucky that I’ve kept my job so far since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. When rent was due on April 1st, I could pay it. Sadly, many others couldn’t.

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Blog Post

What Actions are California Cities Taking to Reduce the Use of Monsanto's Roundup? | Emily Rusch

With more and more suits against Monsanto lining up, communities are pushing back against the use of Roundup and associated glyphosate-based herbicides. One by one, cities are passing restrictions on Roundup, and finding alternative, healthier ways to maintain operations. 

We spoke to city officials to find out how restrictions on Roundup are implemented in their community. Although the change can come with challenges, these cities show that every community has the capacity to reduce its usage of dangerous pesticides in some shape or form. 

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Blog Post | Democracy

CALPIRG's New Voters Project Helped Turn Out Youth Vote | Emily Rusch

CALPIRG Education Fund’s New Voters Project ensured that thousands of newly eligible young voters registered to vote, received non-partisan information about what was on their ballot, and cast a ballot by Election Day. In total, our team helped register more than 6,000 students to vote and made more than 500,000 Get out the Vote contacts. Here are our highlights, lowlights, and recommendations for future elections.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund

What are Californians Fixing?

Here in California, we want to fix our stuff – even during the COVID‑19 pandemic.
As people try to stay at home as much as possible, it’s more important than ever that our home appliances and devices are working. From kitchen appliances to laptops, gaming systems and televisions, our tech helps us stay home, stay safe, and stay sane.

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund

New Report Shows What Californians Tried to Fix in 2020, and the Barriers They Still Face

CALPIRG released a new report Thursday, “What are Californians Fixing?” which compiles data from the popular repair instruction website iFixit.com about what items people in California were fixing the most in 2020. The report also takes a closer look at the broader repair ecosystem, including barriers that make it harder than it should be to perform basic repairs and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the things we were fixing.

Blog Post

Mounting evidence: Asbestos in talc-based makeup (again)

Once again, product testing demonstrates that the risk of asbestos contamination in talc-based cosmetic products is simply too high to accept.

Blog Post

Jessica Schreiber: ‘It’s just too easy and convenient to throw things away’

We need to make it easier for clothing companies to reuse and recycle. Policy, data collection and nonprofits can help.

Blog Post

Victims of Texas storm: Here are tips to keep yourself, your pets, your home and your finances safe

Here are some tips to help consumers protect themselves during and after a disaster, including how to spot possible opportunists, bad deals and con-artists.

  • COVID-19 CONSUMER TIPS
    Avoid online scams, protect your credit and more. We have assembled a set of consumer tips and guides, and will add more in the days to come.
    OUR TIPS
  • THE FIX IS IN
    Our survey shows that independent shops are struggling to access parts, service information and repair software which is necessary to fix phones — which manufacturers won’t let these independent shops have.
    OUR REPORT
  • FOOD RECALL FAILURE
    Will your supermarket warn you about hazardous food? Our survey grades 26 of the largest grocery stores in the country to determine the efficacy of their policies and practices notifying consumers about food recalls.
    OUR REPORT
  • CHAIN REACTION V
    The overuse of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can cause life-threatening infections in people. Our report ranks restaurant chains on their policies relating to antibiotic use in their beef supply chains.
    SEE THE GRADES

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