Home

What's New

Media Hit | Consumer Protection

Debt Trap: Keep payday and predatory lenders out of Pennsylvania- Editorial

The Patriot-News Editorial board speaks out against a bill that would allow payday lenders to charge triple diget interest rates. This bill is opposed by PennPIRG and a coalition of organizations throughout Pennsylvania.

> Keep Reading
News Release | PennPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Vast Majority of PA College IDs Not Valid for Voting

April 12, PHILADELPHIA - A recent study released today by PennPIRG and a broad coalition of voter protection groups found that Pennsylvania’s new photo ID voting law could potentially disenfranchise more than 80% of the state’s college students. 

 

> Keep Reading
News Release | PennPIRG | Tax

Offshore Tax Havens Cost PA Taxpayers $452 per Year

April 12, PHILADELPHIA – With tax day approaching, a new study released by PennPIRG found that the average Pennsylvania taxpayer in 2011 would have to shoulder an extra $452 tax burden to make up for revenue lost from corporations and wealthy individuals shifting income to offshore tax havens.

> Keep Reading
Report | PennPIRG | 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.

> Keep Reading
Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Transportation and the New Generation

From World War II until just a few years ago, the number of miles driven annually on America’s roads steadily increased. Then, at the turn of the century, something changed: Americans began driving less. By 2011, the average American was driving 6 percent fewer miles per year than in 2004.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Media Hit | Consumer Protection

Debt Trap: Keep payday and predatory lenders out of Pennsylvania- Editorial

The Patriot-News Editorial board speaks out against a bill that would allow payday lenders to charge triple diget interest rates. This bill is opposed by PennPIRG and a coalition of organizations throughout Pennsylvania.

> Keep Reading
News Release | PennPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Vast Majority of PA College IDs Not Valid for Voting

April 12, PHILADELPHIA - A recent study released today by PennPIRG and a broad coalition of voter protection groups found that Pennsylvania’s new photo ID voting law could potentially disenfranchise more than 80% of the state’s college students. 

 

> Keep Reading
News Release | PennPIRG | Tax

Offshore Tax Havens Cost PA Taxpayers $452 per Year

April 12, PHILADELPHIA – With tax day approaching, a new study released by PennPIRG found that the average Pennsylvania taxpayer in 2011 would have to shoulder an extra $452 tax burden to make up for revenue lost from corporations and wealthy individuals shifting income to offshore tax havens.

> Keep Reading
News Release | PennPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Youth Drive Less, Desire More Transportation Options

A new report released today by the PennPIRG Education Fund, in conjunction with U.S.PIRG, demonstrates that Americans have been driving less since the middle of last decade. The report, Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People are Driving Less and What it Means for Transportation Policy, shows that young people in particular are decreasing the amount they drive and increasing their use of transportation alternatives.

 

> Keep Reading
News Release | PennPIRG Education Fund and Demos | Consumer Protection

Report: “Pennsylvania Lives at Risk”

Philadelphia, PA – A new report by Demos and PennPIRG finds that Pennsylvanian’s lives, health and livelihoods would be at risk if so-called “regulatory reform” proposals were to become law, slowing or stopping the regulatory process.  

> Keep Reading

Pages

Result | Health Care

Young People Now Covered

This year, the federal health care reforms that U.S. PIRG worked to win have started to pay off for young people. In the past, teens saw their premiums soar or were denied coverage when they turned 19, even if they’d been insured their whole lives. Now, they can remain on their parents’ plans until age 26.

> Keep Reading
Result | Food

Researching How Tax Dollars Become Twinkies

U.S. PIRG research found that since 1995, $17 billion in agricultural subsidies have gone to corn syrup and other junk food ingredients. That’s enough to buy 2.8 billion Twinkies, and vastly more than has gone to apples and other fresh fruits and vegetables.

> Keep Reading
Result | Food

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 USDA has stopped buying such low-quality meat for school lunches.

> Keep Reading
Result | Financial Reform

A VICTORY FOR CONSUMERS OVER WALL STREET

Even after the financial crisis, lobbyists for the big banks and credit card companies furiously opposed pro-consumer provisions in the Wall Street reform law. We helped convince Congress to ignore them and create a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

> Keep Reading
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.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Report | PennPIRG | 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.

> Keep Reading
Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Transportation and the New Generation

From World War II until just a few years ago, the number of miles driven annually on America’s roads steadily increased. Then, at the turn of the century, something changed: Americans began driving less. By 2011, the average American was driving 6 percent fewer miles per year than in 2004.

> Keep Reading
Report | PennPIRG Education Fund and Demos | Health Care

Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania.

> Keep Reading
Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | Budget

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.

> Keep Reading
Report | PennPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Business Spending on Super PACs

Contrary to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, for-profit businesses should not be permitted to spend treasury funds to influence elections. First, most businesses are constrained to participate only to maximize private profit, rather than out of regard for the public good. More important, this spending undermines political equality by allowing wealthy institutions to translate economic success into political power.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | Democracy

MAKING SUPER PACS ILLEGAL | Alana Miller

A new Washington Post- ABC News poll shows that almost 7 out of 10 voters believe that super PACs, the independent expenditure only committees created in the wake of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision, should be illegal. Super PACs are not responsible for all problems with American democracy, however, they do amplify those troubles so it is no surprise that the public is crying out in opposition to them.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

DON’T FREEZE OUR PUBLIC HEALTH AND CONSUMER SAFETY PROTECTIONS | Alana Miller

Last year, in the 175 days that the U.S. House of Representatives was in session, it passed more than 190 anti-regulatory bills. Putting profits over public safety and they are still at it. Next up is H.R. 4078, the “Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act of 2012,” a bill that wrongly calls for a halt on all public health and consumer safety protections until the unemployment rate reaches six percent. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to mark up the bill today, Tuesday, March 20.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, JFK USHERED IN MODERN CONSUMER PROTECTION ERAAlana MillerEd Mierzwinski

People of almost any age know a lot about the Kennedy administration with its optimistic beginnings and its sudden, tragic end. Yet many have probably never heard of one of JFK's important legacies -- his declaration that consumers have rights that deserve protection.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Tax

Statement on White House Plan to Close Tax LoopholesAlana MillerPhineas Baxandall

Statement by Alana Miller, Program Associate for the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group in response to the White House announcement proposing to eliminate tax loopholes and preferences.

 

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Today, CFPB to announce overdraft fee investigation, unveil "penalty box" disclosure, possibly end $39 lattes | Ed Mierzwinski

Would you knowingly agree to pay a $35 fee each time you used your debit card at point of sale, simply to allow you to purchase a $4 latte with only $2 in your account? Even the banks didn't think so, that's why they made “standard overdraft protection” a feature of your checking account that you didn't need to choose. Banks also changed the default switch on debit and ATM cards to allow overdrafts

> Keep Reading

Pages

Tools & Resources

  • YOUR Tax Dollars Become Twinkies
    Billions of taxpayer dollars have subsidized the ingredients in junk food. We're calling on Congress to end agribusiness handouts.
    Learn more
    Take Action
  • STOP TAX DODGERS
    Corporate tax avoidance cost Pennsylvanians $4.4 billion last year. PennPIRG is working to close the loopholes that allow companies to avoid paying the taxes they owe.
    Learn more
    Take Action
  • Dangerous Toys On Store Shelves?
    Find out what to watch out for — from toxic chemicals to choking hazards — in our “Trouble In Toyland” report.
    Learn more
    Get the report
  • 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

Priority Action

The CUT Loopholes Act would put an end to the price and profit shifting that allows publicly traded companies to engage in pervasive tax avoidance.

Take Action

Consumer Alerts

Join our network and stay up to date on our campaigns, get important consumer updates and take action on critical issues.

Support Us

Your donation supports PennPIRG's work to stand up for consumers on the issues that matter, especially when powerful interests are blocking progress.

Donate Today